Neurotic
by sodoto
Summary: COMPLETE. My name's not Chris Perry, Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. It's Christopher. He paused, almost reluctantly. Christopher Halliwell.
1. Chapter the First

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

* * *

**Chapter The First**

* * *

_"What do I tell them?"_

_Bianca pushed the door open, peering inside. "Don't tell them anything. Just stick to your cover story. The less they know about the future, the better."_

_"Well, what if they find out who I really am?"_

_"They won't ... not as long as you can pass yourself off as their Whitelighter."_

Nnnnggh. And there was the first crunch point, because they knew he wasn't a proper Whitelighter and they hadn't quite forgiven him since. Finding him with a demon in the house had just been the drop of water that overflowed the vase, or however that French proverb went.

That event, accompanied the sisters' mistrust of him, lead to them kicking him out of the house, and promising to fry him in vinegar if he ever darkened their doorstop again.

Like he'd been using the doorstep to get in. Really.

He snorted, and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. Although the first deadline had tentatively passed (disappearing like that, alone and with no one around, had been nearly as scary as coming back to the past in the first place), the second one was still approaching.

He needed to see that Book of Shadows. Unfortunately, there seemed to be no period recently when his mother and aunts _weren't_ in the house. At least somebody was in at all times. This was probably due to Piper's pregnancy (at least he was granted relief from not seeing his own mother vomit due to his past self's presence in her womb.)

He needed their trust back desperately.

Or, the trust of someone else who could get into the house.

Chris pondered slowly on his only two options. Darryl Morris was out. Despite being tight with the girls in the future, even that relationship was currently rocky. To be honest, it gave Chris a small slither of hope, because the Charmed Ones just obviously couldn't get on with anyone at the moment. Just look at what had happened with Jason and Richard, too.

Hands in his pockets, scuffing his trainers idly on the sidewalk, he knew just who he had to go to. It left him with one rather huge problem though.

Just how to explain to his grandfather exactly why he needed his help.

* * *

Victor Bennett kicked off his aching shoes, sinking blissfully into the worn comfort of his couch. It was second-hand and scruffy, like most of his furniture, but if cheap furniture and a dodgy apartment were going to get him closer to his girls, he wasn't going to protest.

Beside, _concrete_ would feel just as blissful to him as the lumpy seat. He'd had a hell of a day. Finding out Piper was pregnant (pregnant!) with that lousy scumbitch Leo again (again!) and then spending all day alternately worried about the story they told him of losing their heads (their heads!) and Phoebe being turned into a genie and Piper and Leo almost being lost on the ghostly plane, and worrying about their new troublesome apparently ex-Whitelighter. Not to mention having to scurry off to work thanks to an angry client.

An angry _rich _client. Which meant he'd have to rush on over there straight away, and he'd only just got back. The video machine blurred a lazy 1:02 am at him. No _chance_ of a visitor, not at this time.

He closed his eyes, sinking lower into the abused piece of furniture, and yawned, lethargically. He was just starting to drift off into the fuzzy haze of a dream, when the doorbell rang.

Victor snapped one eye open, and eyeballed the door warily. The doorbell rang again, insistently. "This is not my day," he murmured absently to himself as he pushed his worn body upright. He slid off the couch as the doorbell sounded again. "All right, I'll be there in a second."

Walking over to the front door, wincing with every weary step, he opened the door, keeping the safety latch on. Eyes the colour of a calm storm blinked at him. He peered nervously at his visitor, his eyebrows knotting together as he realised that the eyes belonged to a serious looking young man, tall, six foot one in his estimation, under a mop of brown hair that Victor had the irrational sudden urge to take a comb to.

"Hi-" the young man said, spreading his hands awkwardly. "Hello, Mr. Bennett."

Victor folded his arms in what he hoped was a menacing manner. "Do you know what time it is, young man?"

His visitor exhaled hard. "Yes. It's seven weeks until your grandson Wyatt is turned evil. I'm here to stop it happening."

Victor's eyes widened in realisation. He slid off the latch, knowing now who his visitor was and knowing the latch wouldn't stop him, but he bodily stood in the doorway, a physical barrier to his ground floor apartment. "You're Chris Perry, the half _Whitelighter_-" (see, Patty, I can _almost_ say it without too much venom in my voice) "-who, if I recall what my daughter said earlier _yesterday _put my only grandson in mortal danger."

Chris shook his head impatiently. "You're wrong."

Victor snorted in disgust. "Well, if you're here to try and get me to plead on your case to the sisters, it's not going to work. I'll tell you that now and stop you from wasting your-"

"My name's not Chris Perry."

Victor stopped, mid tirade, and blinked confusedly at his visitor. "Oh," he said, dazed. "Uh- Just forget what I said-"

"No, no, no," Chris said, almost impatient, looking up at Victor, his eyes pleading. "I am _close_ to who you think I am. Please. I just want half an hour of your time. I know it's late, but this could be my last chance to save Wyatt."

Victor didn't budge, unconvinced. "Then convince me."

Chris shifted slightly. There was an awkward pause before he spoke. "It's about Piper's baby."

Concerned, Victor's eyes widened. The boy was from the future, after all, and would know... "What about the baby? Is Piper gonna be okay? Does something happen to it-"

"God, no," Chris said hurriedly, trying to placate him. "It comes out fi-" He caught himself, adjusted what he was about to say. "It comes out healthy."

Victor, tired and sore, decided to be forthright about it. "Well, what _about_ Piper's baby?"

"Well..." Chris looked miserable for a second, looking at the ground shyly before looking directly at Victor. "Piper's pregnant with me."

The words hung awkwardly on the air for a second. They hit Victor hard. "With.. you? I thought she said Leo was the father." Horror swelled in his gut and he stared in shock at Chris. "Oh god. Oh god. I swear, if you-"

Obviously his mind was heading off on completely the wrong track, because Chris winced in obvious disgust. "No no no no!" Chris held up his hands. Victor's mind whirled with the possibilities of what Chris might have meant. "Eww. No. Leo _is_ the father." He looked away again, then looked back. "_I'm_ the baby," he added softly, almost as if couldn't believe it himself, but at the same time with a quiet determination.

"Oh, god," Victor breathed, "that's such a relief and-" Then it hit him. "Huh?"

"My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Victor stared at him, hard. A hint of Patty stared back in the defiant angle of Chris'- Christopher's - eyebrows. It was enough to convince him that the lad deserved at _least_ a half an hour. _If not my whole life_.

He hesitated for a long second, deliberating, before eventually standing back and saying, "I think you'd better come in. You and I have some _serious_ talking to do."

* * *


	2. Chapter the Second

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris _still_ don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

* * *

**Chapter The Second**

* * *

Chris stared at his entwined hands, perched gently on the knees of his worn jeans, tracing the interlocked patterns of his twisted fingers. This truth thing was just as hard a thing as he reckoned it was going to be.

Hey, it wasn't as if he could have come to the past all _hi, Piper, yeah, I'm Chris, your unborn unconceived child. _He'd have been handed a whole symphony of disbelief, and the programme too. And finding the words since had been nigh on impossible. There'd been a moment where he'd thought Phoebe might have cottoned on to him, but that moment had passed.

So now he was sitting on his grandfather's couch, staring at his own hands rather than face seeing disbelief on the face of the one person who'd really always been there for him.

"All right," Victor said, a little unevenly. Chris just wanted to ball up in a corner and bury his face deep in his hands, and not wake up until his family had realised hey, they _were_ his family, how about that. Realising it wasn't going to happen, Chris reluctantly lifted his face up.

Victor didn't _look_ disgusted. Chris knew his grandfather well enough to know that he was just normal run-of-the-mill confused, with a hint- a hint of belief on his face.

"You want proof, right?" Chris asked weakly, unable to think of any proof he could actually give.

"Uh, who was Melinda Warren?" Chris knew Victor must have heard the girls mention her. It was a question that Chris _could_ have researched in the future, or even the present, but if Chris hesitated a moment Victor would know Chris didn't intimately know who she was.

"The beginning of the Halliwell family line," Chris said promptly. "She gave us our powers. Our destiny."

"What's the secret ingredient in the Halliwell blueberry cobbler?"

"Honey and a splash of rum," Chris said, smiling briefly. "Although mom discovers in about four years that melting chocolate and butter with a splash of whiskey makes a _great_ sauce to go with it."

"Where was I born?"

"Dryburn hospital, Durham, North East England. Your mom was holidaying in England to see some of your relatives, and fell into labour in the cinema, watching Kill It Before It Dies," Chris said, just as quickly as before. "It's where Aunt Phoebe heard of the film, and went _convinced_ she was going to love it, and then did."

"What's my favorite beer?"

"Stella." Chris wrinkled his nose. He didn't agree.

"Who wins the next Superbowl?"

Chris opened his mouth to respond, then shut it, glowering darkly at his grandfather. "Grand_dad_," he whined instead, looking at Victor petulantly, but suddenly happy. He knew he'd passed the test.

"All right, all right," Victor conceded, looking brighter than he had when he'd opened the door. It was nearing half past one and his grandfather didn't look as if he cared any more. "I'm convinced. Besides," and Victor cocked his head to one side, "you look a little like me at that age."

"I do?" Suddenly perky, Chris beamed, obviously delighted.

Victor's eyes twinkled in pleasure. "Yeah." Then he was suddenly business-like again. "So what did you want to talk to me about? This whole seven week thing..."

Chris squirmed a little on the seat. "Since I've come here, I've been on a deadline. One's passed - I almost wasn't, um-" He winced a little at Victor. "Uhh, let's just say it was nine months before I was due to be born, and, um, mom and Leo hadn't-"

Victor summarily winced. "Oh, oh. Oh." His head flung up awkwardly, cricking his neck, but he didn't care. "But they did, y'know, didn't they?"

Chris nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I started to disappear, and it was scary for a while, but I managed to explain it away by saying mom saves the life of my mother sometime in the future, and so if she potentially died, my mother would potentially die too, causing me to cease to exist."

"God," Victor breathed. He looked undecided for a moment, before getting to his feet and crossing over to sit on the uncomfortable sofa next to Chris. He put one tentative arm on Chris' elbow. "You must have been so scared."

Touched, Chris looked at his grandfather. "I-" He let his eyes fall, to look at his grandfather's hands, worn and callused. "Yeah, I was. And they were right _there_ and I couldn't tell them that they-" He stilled, suddenly silent.

"And now there's a second deadline?" Victor asked, taking pity when he saw Chris' distress.

"Y-yeah." Chris lifted his head. "Whatever turns Wyatt does it before I'm born." He smiled wryly. "And you saw how close she was."

"Seven weeks close," Victor said, just as wryly. Chris laughed. Victor then looked thoughtful. Chris looked at him quizzically. "Are- Wait, are you allowed to tell me stuff like this? You know, being from the future and all. Piper was whining about your spiel on future consequences..."

Chris shifted a little. "Actually, you're probably the safest person to tell stuff to." Suddenly shy, he looked away. " No offence meant, but you-"

Victor arched a long look at him, which Chris saw when he turned back. "My lack of powers make me less dangerous?"

"Um. Sort of," Chris mumbled. "And the fact that I can't tell them anything that could change the future in a bad way and hurt them, means that if I tell you-"

"I wouldn't want them hurt, and wouldn't tell them," Victor realised.

"Yeah," Chris breathed. "And I-" His face tightened. "I needed to talk to someone. Being around them all the time, with them not trusting me, _hating _me..." His voice trailed off to a breathy whisper. "I come from a future where Wyatt is turned evil. I'm talking levelling countries, letting demons rule the planet, evil. And I can't even tell them that much. But I need to find out who turns him, and stop it from happening. Billions die in the future, billions of innocent lives. Demons terrorize the general population that's still alive in return for giving their allegiance to Wyatt. Goodness is- _pushed_ into the corners. Struggling. We didn't have much time left when I came here."

Victor was silent, his face gaunt with the knowledge of what Wyatt - cute, innocent, golden Wyatt - could grow up to become, if he wasn't stopped. He pictured global destruction, a world of darkness, the world Chris had grown up in, and was sitting here now. A survivor. Wanting to change it, so the world wouldn't have to suffer what he had.

Pride welled up in him. "Are-" His throat closed up around the question. "Are we close in the future?"

Chris' entire demeanour changed. He looked a little less like the weight of the universe was squarely on his young shoulders. "Yeah, you're awesome," he enthused, before realising what he'd said and flushing awkwardly. He grinned sheepishly at Victor. "You're my favorite person to spend time with in the future. I love hanging out with you."

The swelling pride grew a little more, and Victor beamed, happy. "I've got to admit I'm a little surprised. I mean..." He floundered a little for the words. He decided to take Chris' tack - honesty. "It's no secret I wasn't the greatest dad. It means a lot to me that I could do something for you. To make up for it."

"Yeah. After the Event we got really close," Chris said, his face tightening again. He lowered his eyes to the threadbare carpet, exhaling slowly.

"The Event?" Victor's breath quickened. He could almost hear the capitals in Chris' weary voice.

"I- I can't," Chris whispered, looking miserable. "It could change the future in unimaginable ways if you knew. I can't risk that."

"But you came back to change the future," Victor retorted, almost angrily.

"I know," Chris said, just as miserably as before. "And I wish I could tell you everything. But I can't." He hung his head slightly. "I can't," he repeated, his voice wavering.

"OK," Victor said.

Chris looked up, confused. "OK?"

"Yeah," Victor said. "You can't tell me now, I understand." He looked at Chris slowly, the feeling rushing through him softly that this boy was his grandson. His grandson. Whom he hadn't managed to screw up. Who would grow up to trust him this much.

Chris looked a thousand times more relieved.

"Why don't you tell the girls the truth?" Victor asked directly, too tired to pussyfoot around the question.

Chris blanched. "They don't exactly trust me at the moment," he said, wrinkling his nose. "The whole, letting a demon near my brother thing."

Victor bristled a little, suddenly suspicious of Chris' motivations. "Why did you do that?"

"I was trying to look for the evil that turns Wyatt," Chris said, after a long pause. "Evil smells evil, unfortunately. Be glad it was that demon, one of the uh- I really wanna say people, but that doesn't do humans any favours - anyway, one of them said they'd resurrect Belthazor for me. Which, you know, wouldn't have really been a good idea, even though Cole would have been able to sense who turns Wyatt in a minute."

"_Really _wouldn't have been a good idea," Victor agreed ferverently. "All right. You win."

"What?"

Victor suppressed the smirk threatening to break onto his face. His grandson (grandson!) was looking hopelessly confused. "You came here for my help, right? You win. You got me. I'll help you."

Chris' mouth opened and closed several times. "I- uh-" His entire posture relaxed. "Thanks," he breathed, relief evident on his face.

"But I have some conditions," Victor said.

"All right," Chris replied, stifling a yawn and then looking apologetically at Victor.

"One, you stay here. With me. Two, you tell me the truth, always. If there's something you can't talk about because of the future, then say so. Three, you tell your family the truth." Victor put one hand softly on top of Chris' as the young witch-Whitelighter's eyes widened in panic. "Not now. It's just, they deserve to know Chris. They deserve to feel what I feel when I look at you."

Wariness and relief tangled together on Chris' face.

"I'm so proud of you," Victor explained. Wonder lit up Chris' face so instantly that Victor could hardly believe that his girls hadn't realised who he was. Piper stared back at him too from that face, from the messy mop of hair to the shape of his face. Leo's eyes blinked back at him too, warmer than he'd ever seen Leo look at anyone. "You'll be okay sleeping on the couch, right?"

Chris' face broke into the widest, most genuine smile of relief and joy that Victor had seen in a long time. "Are you kidding? Me and Lumpy go way back." Chris patted the sofa with the ease of familiarity.

"Lumpy?" Victor laughed out loud. "I'll go get you some blankets," he said, getting to his feet. "We'll get some sleep and tomorrow, we're going to come up with a plan of action."

Chris obediently copied him, getting to his feet and starting to rearrange the cushions on 'Lumpy'. He took the blankets and pillows that Victor handed him gratefully. "Thanks."

"Sleep well," Victor said, reaching out one hand to ruffle Chris' hair good-naturedly. Chris rolled his eyes.

"Night, grandpa," Chris said, without realising what he'd said until he saw the grin of happy disbelief on his grandfather's face.

"Night." Victor watched Chris pull the sheets into place. He moved like Patty. His heart marveled silently. He went to bed and fell asleep still wondering how come no one could have seen that Chris was through-and-through a Halliwell.

* * *


	3. Chapter the Third

**Neurotic

* * *

**

A story of Christopher Perry Halliwell

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**Disclaimer: **Charmed doesn't belong to me.

* * *

**Chapter The Third

* * *

**

"Your grandfather is a genius, I swear." Victor danced triumphantly through the front door, juggling a bag of groceries, his key and his digital camera.

"Blowing your own trumpet, eh?" Chris commented as he rounded the corner with a grin, rubbing his eyes sleepily before taking the bag of shopping from him. "Or should I be more worried that you're referring to yourself in the third person?"

Victor flashed a wry smile at his grandson. "Neither. I just completely solved your problem."

Chris squinted at him dubiously as they walked together to the small kitchen, working in a flawless dance to put the food away that Victor silently marvelled at. Chris must have been around him a _lot_ in the future to have learned his habits this well. "What did you do?" Chris asked, suspiciously. "You didn't tell them-"

"-who you were?" Victor shook his head. "No. That's your job," he said, watching Chris squirm. "Nope. This was my great idea!" He held forth the digital camera triumphantly.

Chris rolled his eyes. "Great idea, huh?"

Something about Chris' even-snarkier-than-usual tone made Victor's sense of elation stop suddenly. He looked up, puzzled. Chris twisted the display to him, and pressed the button to cycle through the pictures.

Every picture was of a couple of blank pages from the book.

Victor grabbed the camera in disbelief, then pressed buttons furiously. "I don't believe this! It worked in the house!"

"Well, it would," Chris said evenly as he put some tins away. "Magic affects electricity in strange ways. While you were in the house, the screen would show it, but outside the house - or if you tried to print it anywhere - the pages would appear empty."

Victor sulked silently for a second. "You seem to know an awful lot about it," he said, sullen. He bent to put some potatoes into the vegetable rack, and then squinted at it. "Did you tidy up in here?" He edged one eyebrow at Chris, who squirmed uncomfortably for a moment. "You're definitely your mother's son."

Chris grinned sheepishly. "I had to have a break from The Map," he said. "And my fingers itch when I see messiness. I can't help it. It's a curse, I swear."

Victor just shook his head ruefully. "How's The Map going?"

"Soooo frustrating." Chris shook his head, and walked through the connecting door to the small dining room. Over the table was spread a large piece of paper, with Chris' neat handwriting all over it, in columns. The Map he'd started the day after telling Victor his secret. For the last couple of weeks, Victor had been trying to sneak information from the Book of Shadows to help Chris add more possibilities to the different columns, but it was taking a long time. A long, long time.

"Well, breaks are good. You can help me put the shopping away, if you like," Victor said.

Chris nodded, and took up one of the bags, putting everything naturally away in the proper places as if he didn't even have to think about it. Victor wondered if it was because of the tidying up session, or that he had this apartment for a long time in the future and Chris had spent a lot of time in it. Maybe both.

It was certainly making Victor think a lot about the future, something he'd been keen not to think of lately.

"You didn't answer my question," Victor said, sliding frozen meals into the small freezer. Normally he'd have to cram them in, but Chris had tidied up in there too. He really, really, _really_ was his mother's son. If Victor had had any doubts, this would have wiped them out of the way.

"Huh?" Chris looked at him, an expression of confusion on his face.

"How you knew a lot about the digital camera being unable to work," Victor said, a little sullenly. He'd thought it was a really great plan, after all.

Chris arched one eyebrow at him. "_That_ was a question?"

Victor wrinkled his nose a little. "Yes. I may not have specifically worded it exactly as a question, but-"

"-you were hinting at it," Chris finished, a smile slowly coming onto his face. He leaned back against the counter, his hands gripping the worn surface, his brown hair falling into his eyes a little. His eyes, normally a sparkling green, had dulled. He looked as if he was far, far away. Victor was about to ask him if he was okay, but the young man started to speak on his own. "When I turned six, I was really fascinated with the book. It hasn't really stopped since. It keeps changing, you see, and there's so much in there. You know, we would go through it every time there was a demon- we would have to. I guess I figured studying it would let me help them." He smiled ruefully at that. "Not like they listened to me when they came across something I could help them with."

Chris fell silent for a while. Victor, uncertain of what to do but feeling Chris' sadness, stepped forwards and put his hand tentatively on Chris' arm. Chris smiled at him, a more genuine smile, at the gesture.

"That must have been hard," Victor sympathised, his voice low.

Chris shrugged, and looked away. "Nah, not really," he said briskly, but Victor knew he was lying. He decided to let that one go, in case Chris wanted to open up some more. "Anyway, mom thought I looked at the book too much, that I was paranoid when I started to see Wyatt—" He paused heavily.

"See Wyatt… doing things he shouldn't?" Victor guessed.

"Yes," Chris admitted heavily, hanging his head and studying the pattern of the tiles. "Of course, I was just the young one, who was _neurotic_." He spoke the words with bitterness. "I wasn't Wyatt. Twice-blessed."

Taking pity on Chris' obvious pain, Victor made a sound of confusion. Chris looked up at him. "You know, I've never got that," Victor said. "Twice-blessed, right? Son of a Charmed One and a Whitelighter. Isn't that you, too?"

Chris laughed, but it wasn't a laugh Victor enjoyed to hear because it was obvious Chris was tightly holding back tears. It wasn't obvious by his eyes being a little glazed over; it was just obvious by his expression. The same one Piper had used, as a toddler, when she'd hurt her knee and was trying to be brave like Prue (_oh, Prue_) and pretend it didn't hurt. "Yeah," Chris said, and if his voice was a little rough Victor didn't pick him up on it. "That's me, too." He smiled as if enjoying a private joke.

Victor shook his head. "I don't get it, what's so funny?"

"I-" Chris' face tightened. "Future issues. I'm sorry. I don't mean to-"

"It's all right," Victor said, hurrying to reassure him. "Anyway, the photos?"

"Oh, right." Chris actually shook his head a little, as if to shake away the sudden gloom he'd put himself into. "Um, I was so down because of being kept away from it, and you wanted to cheer me up. So you decided to make Wyatt and I our own."

"With the digital camera," Victor realised. "Oh, man, you've at least saved me from messing up there!"

Chris grinned a toothy grin at his grandfather. "I'm half tempted to whip up some kind of forgetting potion to make you forget it doesn't work. The expression on your face the first time when you hooked it up to the printer, set it up to print it all, and it just kept spewing out plain pages…" Chris snickered lightly at the memory.

"I'm glad you still had some happy memories in your time," Victor said, honestly.

Chris' head whipped up at that, his face crunched in confusion for a brief moment, before it relaxed in surprise. "I-" A softer smile played on his face, and Chris looked off into the distance, obviously replaying some of the happier moments in his mind. "Yeah. I won't lie. The latter half of my life has been crap, and even with the constant peril of demon attacks, and mom and Leo putting Wyatt over me most of the time- There was some good times. There were some _great_ times."

Victor moved his hand from Chris' arm to his shoulder, giving it a warm crunch before letting his arm fall at his side. "Well, I'd love to hear some more some time if there are any that won't change the future," Victor said.

"Sure," Chris said, although there was a little reluctance in his eyes.

"But only if it doesn't hurt too much," Victor hurried to add.

Chris made as if to smile at that, but it was obviously too much. His face screwed up slightly, and he was clenching his fists tightly, his face going slightly red as he fought the tears. He screwed his eyes shut, then opened them slightly, tears glistening in them, unshed. "Yeah," he managed, his voice a little forced, and Victor felt so much anger towards whoever had managed to do this to his grandson. He moved forwards, gathering him in his arms. Chris leant into him, his head burrowing into his shoulder. It was only by Chris' shoulders, shaking so slightly, that Victor even knew he was crying.

"Ssshh, ssshh," Victor soothed, rubbing his hands up and down Chris' back like he used to with his girls before- but he broke that thought of. It wouldn't do for both of them to break down. "Just let it all out."

Eventually Chris pulled away, his cheeks red and his eyes a dazzling green. "Sorry," he whispered.

"Hey," Victor commanded, his voice gentle, "we'll have none of that apologising while you're under my roof."

"Sorry," Chris immediately said, and then blushed. He looked up sheepishly. Victor laughed.

"How 'bout I fix us some dinner, eh? Lamb chops sound good to you?" Victor asked.

Chris looked at him, and edged a look towards where The Map was spread out. Clearly torn, he looked blankly at Victor for a second.

"You're leaving that thing alone tonight," Victor said.

"But-" Chris said, but Victor suspected it was more out of habit than of a real desire to work on it.

"No. You're tired, emotionally and physically, and it won't do for you to pass out," Victor said. "I promise, tomorrow, we will work out some way for you to get to the book. But for tonight, not a word about it. You understand me, Mr. Halliwell?"

Chris laughed out loud at that, and saluted. "Yes, sir!"

"Now be on with you," Victor ordered. "I know what you Halliwells are like in the kitchen. Out. Out! Or do I have to take a spoon to you?"

Laughing, Chris held up his hands and walked backwards out of the room. "Not the spoon, anything but the spoon!"

"Get on with you," Victor chuckled, watching Chris to make sure he went to sit down. He watched his grandson fondly for a moment, and started to get the meat out of the fridge, thinking desperately of a way to get Chris to the book. He needed a distraction, a good one, and fast.

**

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**


	4. Chapter the Fourth

**Neurotic

* * *

**

A story of Christopher Perry Halliwell

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I'm just a-playing in the supermarket that is Charmed. A supermarket in which I do not give out any money, but nor do I get any money in return.

* * *

**Chapter The Fourth**

**

* * *

**

A demon was close. He could sense it.

Running his coarse, work-wearied fingers along the smooth length of the athame, he poised on the corner of the building, waiting for his prey.

His lip twisted as the demon crashed around the corner, clad foot to toe in black, fangs gleaming. Innocent crushed in his arms, one spiky hand clamped over her terrified mouth, clumps of peroxide blonde hair coming in tufts from her head.

The demon made the mistake of lifting up one hand. The girl screamed.

He cursed, and dropped down lower, hoping that her scream had not attracted more... unwanted company. It definitely made the demon worse. Fury flashed across its twisted, burned face, and the crimson slits of its eyes burned in anger. It yanked the girl into the air as if she was naught but a rag doll.

He drew his hand back to throw the athame, and then his body tensed as a figure crashed around the corner. A handful of foreign curses gurgled and died in his throat, and he bit his tongue as he returned to his crouch. The figure was another nothing of a girl, too slight to do any real damage. Brown hair swept up into the latest fashion, gauzy clothing that clung to her curvy frame, flimsy high-heeled sandals that were no use in the dank San Francisco alley. He despaired until he saw her dark brown eyes flash with anger.

"You! Leave her be!"

The woman's voice carried stridently in the dark, damp place. The demon growled, and flung the blonde in his hands to the ground. A sickening crunch filled the air. He could see blood flood from the broken body. He winced, and quietly watched the brunette face down the demon. Passion flooded her elfin face.

"I've left her. You look a more tasty morsel," the demon ground out.

"_Paige!_"

He blinked as the woman yelled out the name. He briefly - irrationally - wondered if she knew the demon, until a swirl of blue energy circled down next to her. Two women appeared. A heavily pregnant woman with long brown hair and a darker haired woman in even skimpier clothing than the first woman.

_Whitelighter_, he recognised in fascination as he stared openly at the young not-pregnant girl that had arrived, her skin pale to the point of translucency. The women moved to stand in a group of three, and he briefly noticed the pregnant woman held a scrap of paper out stridently. They started to chant.

"Book, Candle, Magic Bell. Hear our words, heed our spell."

The demon flung a firefall forwards, but the Whitelighter brought up one hand reflexively. "Fireball!" she yelled.

The demon was flung backwards, the fireball changing his direction in midair, both crashing into the wall. It clambered to its feet, ready to charge. The women - _witches!_ - continued to chant their spell.

"Creeper you will creep no more, leave this world that you abhor."

The demon shrieked in agony, its spiked hands clamping around its own head. A high pitched sound filled the air, and it took him several moments to realise that it was emanating from the demon. A wave of heat flashed through the air, startling him, but he watched despite the horrendous heat as the demon exploded from the inside.

Creeper guts plastered the dank alley. In fascination, he held his spot, and watched as they all ran over to the blonde.

"Is she-" the youngest asked, fear in her face. The Witch-Whitelighter – for Whitelighters did not have that power - bent over, taking the girl's slim wrist in her own, checking for a pulse. She looked up at the other two women, her face impassive as she shook her head.

"Barely a pulse," the Witch-Whitelighter murmured, her voice still carrying upwards in the still air. Anguish flashed across her pale face. "If Leo was here-"

"He'd tell you to stop moping your sorry ass around and give it a go again," the pregnant woman commanded, turning her face away so that the Witch-Whitelighter didn't see the sadness that flickered across her face.

The Whitelighter shuddered, and held her hands above the blonde, creasing her face as she did so. "I- I can't, it's too-"

"Paige-" the first woman said. "Just give it a try. Believe in yourself."

He wondered for a brief moment why the first witch was talking about a page, and then realised it was the young witch's name.

"_Phoebe_," Paige returned, stringing out the syllable.

He supposed it was the first woman's name.

"It can't hurt to try," the pregnant witch said, her hands on her hips while her brown eyes quivered with concern.

Paige turned to the girl, closing her eyes. Searching for something.

He felt his heart constrict as nothing happened, feeling sorry for the witches. It never was a good feeling to lose something, especially if somewhere in you there was the power to prevent it...

Then a spark of _something_ shivered over the girl, a golden warmth he could somehow see as well as feel. It spluttered, then died away, but it was enough. The blonde was still battered and broken, but she was out of danger. For now.

"Phoebe, Piper-" Paige stepped back, stunned, staring at her hands.

_Piper must be the pregnant one,_ he realised. _Three P's_… Realisation sank into his gut. The Charmed Ones! The Halliwell sisters. _Disco!_

"Unnggh," Paige managed, startled. "Uh, Pheebs, I'll take Piper back to the house. Can you call an ambulance?"

Phoebe - the first witch onto the scene - nodded. "Yeah, sure."

She smiled fondly at Paige, who returned the genuine smile. Paige stepped backwards, holding out her arms. The pregnant woman stepped into her arms, like it was a hug. They disappeared in another shimmer of lights.

Now alone, Phoebe held the blonde's hand as the young woman slowly regained consciousness.

"Oh-my-god, oh-my-god-" The blonde started to babble.

"Shhh," Phoebe breathed, a smile on her perfect face. "You're okay now."

"What the hell _was that!_"

"Looked like one of the those PCP mutated freaks," Phoebe lied eloquently. "You know, the report in the newspaper that warned of the deformed gangs, addicted to those deadly drugs. But don't worry. My sister and I kicked him around a little. You'll be fine."

The blonde coughed, looking at Phoebe with brimming, worried eyes. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I could have died." A bewildered smile flickered over her pale face. "I almost thought I had."

"You must have a guardian angel looking out for you somewhere," Phoebe quipped, her eyes warm with the humour of the situation.

"Hey- aren't you- you're _Ask Phoebe!_" The blonde stared. "Phoebe Halliwell, right?" Phoebe barely had time to nod. "Oh my gosh, I don't believe this. I got rescued by Phoebe Halliwell! Not enough saving a zillion personal lives, huh?"

"I'm a hands-on kind of girl on occasion," Phoebe returned, twisting as she heard sounds and saw some lights. "Looks like the cavalry's come."

The time a lot of people came was the time to get away. He looked fondly down on the scene, having found out enough to get into a position to find out more about the three witches. They were Halliwells; exactly what he needed.

His eyes clouded over as he pocketed the athame, and started to scale down the wall. As he padded down the adjoining alley, to obscure himself in the welcoming blanket of darkness, he repeated that hopeful thought. His promise echoed back to him, the promise he'd made in the future. The reason he was here in the past.

_I'll find him for you, my Lord_, he had vowed._ The blood-traitor Christopher Halliwell._

_

* * *

_

It was in the morning when the door clattered open, and a severely disgruntled Phoebe Halliwell clambered through.

"Stupid police report," she yelled out into the hallway. Two heads poked around the doorway of the living room to wince in sympathy with her. Not in total overwhelming sympathy, mind; both Paige and Piper had gotten quite an earful down the phone the night before from the police station, when the police officers on duty had told her the paperwork would take until morning.

"There's some pancakes in the kitchen, honey," Piper called through. Scowling, Phoebe stomped in her pretty high-heeled sandals through to the kitchen, picking up a stack of warm pancakes and a cup of coffee before stomping back through to the living room and flumping down into a chair, scowling prettily at her sisters, and baby Wyatt, sat in his playpen.

"Stupid police," Phoebe grumbled. Paige and Piper exchanged a glance, having heard words along a similar theme on the phone the night before.

"Is she okay?" Paige asked.

"The innocent?" Phoebe nodded. "Yeah. Darryl popped his head in and told me she was all right."

"_Darryl_ did?" Piper's eyebrows rose. "Wow."

"I think he still approves of what we do, even if he doesn't approve of us," Phoebe said slowly. "I felt a lot of… mixed feelings from him."

"It's got to be hard," Piper mused. "I mean, we have enough troubles with it, struggling with having a normal life, and we at least have powers to protect ourselves against any attack."

Paige leant over and stole a pancake from Phoebe's plate too quickly for Phoebe to respond. Phoebe settled for glaring at Paige as she nibbled daintily on the food.

"Speaking of powers," Phoebe said. "When are we going to call Chris back?"

Piper looked at her sharply as if her younger sister had gone completely crazy. "What the hell do you mean? How about never." Piper glanced across at Paige for moral support, and recoiled a little when the youngest Halliwell sister looked torn between both sisters. "Paige! Don't say you agree with Phoebe! He put Wyatt in danger, plain and simple. How do we know him coming back isn't _what_ turns Wyatt evil?"

Paige shuffled, uncomfortable. "I just… Well…" She floundered a little. "We don't. But isn't the saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer?"

Piper exhaled slowly. "Hmm. So you're saying we should run a demon day-care centre?"

"He isn't a demon," Phoebe said. "But if this is your view, this is your view. If you think he's a demon, then who are we to disagree?"

"Yeah, I might whip up a Chris vanquishing potion," Paige quipped.

Piper opened her mouth to retort, feeling overwhelmed and starting to feel _very_ hormonal when the doorbell went. "You two are _saved_ by that doorbell and you both know it," Piper grouched as Paige yelled "_I'll get it_!" and scampered to the door. "You were about to get your asses collectively kicked by a very pregnant lady."

"_Hi, Victor_!"

Piper and Phoebe exchanged a look at Paige's greeting, and they twisted to look up at the doorway.

"Dad!" Phoebe yelled, forgetting her fatigue and lurching to her feet, running to give her dad a hug. Victor smiled into her hair until she let him go, beaming sheepishly at her enthusiastic welcome.

"I'd give you the same reception, but baby number two won't let me," Piper said, a broad smile on her face regardless of the temper she was starting to work herself up into.

"Yeah," Paige said. "We were actually wondering yesterday - actually, just after you came last - if Chris got it a little wrong and that it's _this_ baby that gets turned evil and is exacting its evil deeds from her womb."

"I was a big fan of that theory," Piper deadpanned at Victor's sudden screwed up expression. "Anyway, not that I'm pleased to see you so soon, and so frequently, 'cause it's great. But, uh, what are you doing here?"

"Well," Victor said slowly, "I wasn't planning to come up for a couple of days because I _have_ been coming a bit frequently. You really do have to indulge me, though, 'cause it's fantastic living so close to you all." Phoebe smiled and snuggled into his side a little. "Anyway, I heard on the grapevine that maybe all three of you were free today, so I wondered if maybe you'd want to indulge me even more."

"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked. "I just spent all night at the police station, so I'm a little sleepy…"

Alarmed, Victor looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, we saved an innocent last night," Paige explained, "and Phoebe got trapped up by bureaucratic nonsense for hours."

"Aw…" Victor looked down at his feet, sadly.

"Naw, who needs sleep anyway!" Phoebe protested suddenly, seeing her father look a little downbeat. "What did you have in mind?"

Victor shuffled a little. "Well, I know you don't really want to go out much, Piper, because you're so close… five weeks is it?" Piper nodded. "So, I was wondering about the carnival that's in town today." He paused, as if dubious as to whether it would be a good suggestion or not. "I mean, Wyatt would love it. And I made a couple of enquiries, and Ava Nicolae is running one of her clinics right by the park."

"Oh, gosh, yeah, I heard about that," Phoebe gushed.

"You really thought this through properly, didn't you?" Piper said, as if amazed. She looked slowly down at Wyatt, who was looking a little bored. "Well… Yeah, why not."

"Paige? Phoebe?" Victor said.

"Sure," Paige said, while Phoebe nodded and gave an excited squeal. "I'd love to pop by and see Ava, too. Maybe I can volunteer for her again."

"Righty-ho, Wyatt, did you hear that? We're going to the circus!" Piper bent over carefully and picked up Wyatt. "You're getting to be quite the heffalump, you know that?"

Victor laughed at the scene. While the girls got their coats and Wyatt's travelling equipment, he felt for his cell phone in his pocket, and when they had left the house and bundled up into Piper's car, and had started to speed away, Victor hit the speed-dial button for the last number dialled, let it ring three times, and then closed it down to focus on keeping the girls away from the house for a good few hours at least.

* * *

Chris' brow furrowed as he poured over his Map. The column of possibilities was getting slower, and it was harder to erase vanquished demons as it was taking him a long time to find out _which_ demons were vanquished now he wasn't with the girls.

He resisted looking at the clock, knowing the old adage well: a watched clock _never_ boils. At least, that was Piper's version while he was growing up, and he suspected it was probably due to the number of times a demon had ended up slamming into their grandfather clock at the manor.

Deliberation over whether to move the _Ferkat_ imps to the dangerous column (harmless by themselves, but susceptible to mind domination by a number of higher demons, and quite lethal when hunting in packs) took his mind away from the clock, and Chris let himself trust his grandfather. They had bonded so well in the last two weeks that even their movements around the small apartment were fluidic and like clockwork.

_Like just after The Event,_ Chris thought sadly, and was about to push that thought away when he realised just what he had thought. The _Event_. Suddenly his mom's death was just another euphemism to him. Disgusted, he pushed himself away from the table, his vision swimming slightly. He was starting to use code words so much, and to change what he called things in his head, that he was starting to forget the real words. _But you're here, away from her, and Event or none, you're nowhere close enough to prevent it_.

Had the phone not gone then, Chris didn't want to know where his thoughts would have taken him. Eyes widening in realisation, he ran back to the table and bundled up the Map, thoughtfully taking the pen at the same time before orbing to the manor. It was still and unoccupied for the first time in _forever_. Chris was beginning to wonder whether risking going over in the dead of the night was worth the wrath of the sisters if they discovered him, and was glad he didn't have to risk it now.

Heading briskly over to the Book of Shadows, Chris rolled the Map out on the floor, quickly weighing the corners down with some protection crystals. Sitting cross-legged on the floor with the Book on his lap, he happily started to fill in some more of his columns, cross-referencing the details with his own memories of growing up and tales he'd heard from his aunts and mom.

He was so obsessed with his work that he didn't notice that he wasn't alone any more. He _did, _however, notice in the end when Leo coughed heavily. Chris looked up sheepishly at the imposing Elder, and really, really, really hoped his anal-retentive father would keep his vows of pacifism.

"I think," Leo said heavily, "that you'd better explain to me what you're doing here."

**

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**


	5. Chapter the Fifth

**Neurotic

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**

A story of Christopher Perry Halliwell

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**Disclaimer:** Charmed doesn't belong to me. If you've got this far in the story I LOVE YOU.

* * *

**Chapter The Fifth**

**

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**

"I think," Leo said heavily, "that you'd better explain to me what you're doing here."

Chris' reply was his usual recourse. "What does it look like I'm doing?" He said impatiently. "Trying to stop your son from turning evil, that's what I'm doing. Only the sisters aren't exactly seeing this as a good plan."

Leo's face was completely impassive, etched in stone while Chris looked up at him expectantly. As the silence stretched on, Chris began to wonder if sarcasm was probably the best answer.

"Sorry," Chris apologised eventually. "I didn't mean to snap. This thing is giving me a headache."

Leo apparently got over his inability to speak at this point, when he bent down and joined Chris next to the Map. "What is this?" He asked, staring at the different columns and the way they matched up with time schedules and degrees of urgency and deadlines. "It's incredible."

Suddenly self-conscious and shy, Chris edged a look at him, in a happy sort of disbelief. "You think so? You're not gonna kick me out?"

This prompted a large sigh from Leo. "They kicked you out because you put Wyatt in a position of harm. Wyatt's not here so I suppose-" Here he looked a little doubtful. "I suppose it's all right. Although, I think it would be a redundant question to ask if you have permission."

Chris felt his ears burning.

"Thought so," Leo said. "Anyway, as I am not supposed to be here either, it would by hypocritical of me to shove you out."

Thankful, Chris edged a small smile at Leo. "Thanks, man." Then curiosity got the better of him. "Why are you here?"

"I saw you," Leo said. "And-"

"-thought you'd check that I wasn't doing some nefarious deed?" Chris finished for him wryly.

"Not that," Leo defended, although by the way _Leo's_ ears turned red, Chris figured out simultaneously that a) it was the case and b) so _that's_ where he'd got the annoying propensity of his ears turning red when he was embarrassed or lying. At Chris' glance of disbelief, Leo tried to explain. "I just- I still think your intentions are good. Just some of the ways you carry out your plans…"

"I wish I could run them through with you first," Chris said. "But you know how important keeping this timeline uncontaminated is. I risked a lot doing this in the first place, I can't risk too much more by telling you everything." He locked gazes with Leo, pleading. "The future on my world- it sucked. The Charmed Ones are dead, all the Elders, all the Whitelighters, all good magic… Because sometime, in the next few weeks, something gets to Wyatt and will turn him. Unless I can stop it from happening."

"But you don't know what turns him," Leo said, his brow furrowed. "I- wait – the next few weeks?"

Chris nodded heavily. "Yes. Whatever happens to Wyatt happens before your second child is born," he said. "And that's due in five weeks."

"So we've got five weeks-" Leo started, and then froze, staring at Chris, completely stunned.

Chris stared back, bewildered. It was obviously something he'd said… but he hadn't let anything _dangerous_ from the future slip out. Only that the future was shot to hell, which was impetus to get Leo to trust him, and that it happened in the next few weeks, before his next child was born—

_Oh, crap. Piper's going to skin me ALIVE when she realises what I just did!_ Chris realised. His heart in his mouth, he looked at Leo in panic.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I forgot you didn't know she was pregnant—" Chris smacked himself in the forehead. "I'm so sorry!"

"When- When- When did it happen?" Leo murmured, clearly unable to take the news, and so shocked he didn't even contemplate the possibility that Chris was lying.

"Um." Chris fidgeted a little, still a bit embarrassed with phrasing what exactly happened. "The astral plane? You and Piper?"

"Oh." Leo said. "Oh." Then he paused again, before looking at Chris incredulously. "Wait, she _told_ you what happened?"

Chris tried not to fidget too much. "Um. No. But when you two disappeared onto the astral plane, _I _started to disappear too. And, um, when you were back I was okay."

Now Leo's eyes widened completely in shock. Chris tried not to panic and to keep calm. He couldn't tell him, no matter how much he wanted to wave it in the face of the smug, self-righteous pig.

"Uh, Piper saves my mom's life sometime in the near future," Chris said. "It happens in the hospital, some time after she, um, gives birth to- Um, that's about enough information for now." He shut up. At Leo's confused stare, he shrugged. "I tell you who my mom is, you won't help save her. Actually, I tell you who my mom is, you'll go up to her and ask her not to push."

Leo smiled then at Chris' wry sense of humour. "Naw, I wouldn't."

"Really?"

"Well-" Leo joked. "No. But I would give her painkillers for the next neurotic twenty years of your life."

Chris laughed at that, in a restrained smiling sort of manner, and then turned his attention back to the Map. "Um. Big shocks of impending fatherhood aside… you won't tell her I told you, will you?"

Leo took one look at Chris' pleading expression, and pretended to deliberate slowly. After seeing the actual look of panic in Chris' storm-coloured eyes, Leo decided to go easy on him. "Relax. I'll tell her- that I just peeked a look down at Wyatt and saw- her." A sudden look crossed Leo's face that Chris couldn't decipher. "Um."

"Um?" Chris said, pointedly, idly looking up a page on the Mermen of Ides and dismissing them as too unimportant to even go on the map. He doubted Wyatt would be turned evil by their special ability to blow bubbles at one another, forty-thousand feet under the sea.

"Do you-" Leo looked suddenly and painfully shy, which was a weird expression on him in Chris' humble opinion. "Do you know- the second child?"

Stunned, Chris looked at him. "You know I can't-"

"-tell us about the future, I know," Leo said. "But-"

"So you've got to be an exception?" Chris questioned, feeling slightly irritated for some reason that he couldn't quite pin down, but he reckoned probably had something to do with Leo's presence.

Leo bristled slightly. "You told us that Wyatt turned evil," he said, almost accusingly.

Almost at once, Chris understood. "You want to know if the second child is turned too," he said in realisation. Leo nodded. Chris deliberated for a second, and then realised Leo was clearly torn. And he had to remember that this Leo wasn't exactly his father. Yet. "Healthy. A good person. Not evil." Chris smiled wryly. "Head of the resistance against Wyatt's evil doings, actually."

Leo rocked back on his heels, clearly moved. "I-" He couldn't finish the sentence, and chewed at his lower lip for a second. "Wow."

Chris actually laughed at that. "I'll be sure to tell them you said that," he lied, "if I make it back to the future."

"Oh. Yeah," Leo said, obviously realising something else. "No Elders in your time."

Chris looked away, painfully.

"Look, how about I have a word with the sisters," Leo said. "This - what do you call it?"

"The Map," Chris said.

"Right. This Map," Leo said, smiling a little. "It's really something, and you should at least have some more access to the book, and a little access to their ass-kicking powers. Although-"

"Don't worry. Paige and Phoebe have been taking overly-protective care of Piper," Chris said hurriedly. "Look- I'm really sorry I landed this on you."

Leo smiled sadly. "I'm not. And at least I know one son turns out good… It's a huge comfort. Now—explain to me exactly how this thing works."

Hiding a sudden bout of laughter that surprised himself, Chris hung his head and smiled into his t-shirt before raising his head and starting to explain what each of the columns meant, and how they linked into each other.

They were both so engrossed by it, that neither of them noticed the shadowy figure skulking outside on the pavement.

* * *

"Mmm, I'm absolutely stuffed," Paige declared, holding her stomach and looking mournfully at her half-eaten corn dog. "Pheebs, do you want the rest of this?"

"Gack, I don't think I could eat another thing either," Phoebe said, pulling a face at the yellowed meat popsicle. "Piper? Dad?"

Victor waved his hands at it, and Piper turned her face away, looking abruptly pale.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Realising the smell had made Piper feel sick, Paige cast around for the nearest dustbin. Seeing one thirty feet away, Paige abruptly stumbled into Phoebe.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Phoebe demanded incredulously. Paige eyeballed her sister viciously, and then orbed the corndog away and into the bin. "Ohh. Oh." Phoebe nodded her head. "Very clever."

"I thought so," Paige said, brushing her hands together to get the last crumbs from them. "Can't have Piper throwing up the baby."

"Yeah, thanks for that mental image, Paige," Piper said, a pale look still to her face. Victor stopped tickling Wyatt, and looked at his daughter in concern.

"Are you okay, honey? Do you want to get back to the manor?" He asked.

"No, I'm all right," Piper said. "Besides, we promised Phoebe we'd at least go to the fortune-teller's tent."

"Yeah, but we don't have to keep going around after that," Paige said. "All right?"

"Yay!" Phoebe said, punching the air with one fist excitedly before blowing a raspberry on Wyatt's cheek. Wyatt's delighted giggle filled the air as they trooped along to the fortune-teller's tent that they had seen on the way in. The queue was short, and it was only a five minute wait. They paid their entrance fee, and walked through the smoky thick crimson material until they got inside the tent.

The tent had seemed quite small from the outside, but on the inside was much bigger.

"It's like a TARDIS," Paige remarked, impressed. In front of the table, there were four chairs, as if they had been expected. They all sat down, Victor having Wyatt on his knee. The chair swivelled round, and an old woman with very brown eyes looked at them solemnly.

"One of you is concealing something," the woman said suddenly, her voice low and gravely. "A child, yet not a child. Conflicted, who dreams of the destruction that has happened and yet has not happened so far. He is in mortal danger."

The sisters exchanged confused looks, while Victor looked hard at the old woman, recognising a possibility that she was talking about Chris. While he took fortune-telling with a barrel of salt, he couldn't ignore that it was possible – his own daughter could see the future, for example.

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Phoebe said eagerly.

The woman looked at her. "Your view is clouded of late," she said. "Your emotions are still in turmoil. You have seen something of the truth, and yet haven't acknowledged it yet. If you do not realise the one thing you have missed, the child who is not a child may suffer."

"The child who is not a child that one of us is concealing," Piper said slowly. "My child?" She held her stomach protectively.

"You look at the world through a narrow perspective," the woman said, as if it was a reprimand. "But you will understand. A Map will show you the way. Allow the map reader to help you, for he has gone through much trials and sufferings and seen too much death for someone as young as he, to get this Map to you. Keep your minds open, all of you. The pieces of the puzzle are there, you just have to put them together. A friend who is not a friend will betray you. And your son-" The woman peered at Piper closely. "You three will hurt him, quite deliberately. You will mean him harm and you will deal him harm. And he has been hurt so much already—"

And that was apparently all the woman could cope with, for she slumped in her chair, and it pivoted around again. They looked at each other and in silent agreement headed outside and into the deafening sunshine.

"I don't believe it," Paige said. "We wouldn't hurt Wyatt deliberately. And that whole _child who is not a child_. Yeah, Piper, you're concealing that child _very not obviously_." Her sarcastic streak reminded Victor of Chris, and it cheered him up slightly that Paige would have some influence on him growing up.

"Maybe she didn't mean Wyatt," Phoebe said, thinking heavily, her eyebrows drawn together. They started to head by mutual unspoken consensus to the car.

"What do you mean?" Piper said, worried.

"Maybe- It's just a hunch-" Phoebe trailed off slightly. "Maybe it's your second child. It _is_ a boy, after all…"

"Well then we just don't have to worry about it, then," Piper declared staunchly. "I would never deliberately hurt any of my children, and I know neither of you would, so it's proof that it's stupid."

Victor, however, was thinking otherwise. They _had_ hurt Chris. And he was concealing Piper's child – her second child, all grown-up, who wasn't a child any longer but an adult. And if the fortune teller was right… Chris was in mortal danger, right now, and there wasn't a thing he could do to help him.

**

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**


	6. Chapter the Sixth

**Neurotic

* * *

**

A story of Christopher Perry Halliwell

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Charmed doesn't belong to me.

* * *

**Chapter The Sixth**

**

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**

He stayed looking up at the window for a long time, faintly seeing the two figures move to a complete standstill, bending down on the floor. He'd watched the three Halliwells leave the house, with baby Wyatt and an older man that looked familiar that he couldn't quite place.

He'd planned to make his move instantly, but had held back reflexively, leaning back on his lifetime of training to guide his actions. Sure enough, it was a good plan. A minute later, a secondary shimmer of orbs spilled down, and he'd seen the second figure join the first.

Two male figures. One of them _had_ to be Christopher.

He clenched one fist, slid one hand into his pocket and around the cool steel of his athame, and waited for them to stand up.

* * *

"—so these are the demons that should be vanquished, here-" Leo said, pointing to one of the final columns.

"In the best probable chronological order," Chris said, "although, of course, you can integrate the ones from the column to the left. Even though they're further down the 'food' chain, as it were, their method of vanquish is close to their numbered counterparts on the final column-"

"-so the sisters can increase their efficiency by vanquishing multiple lots at once," Leo said, sounding impressed.

"Using the least power," Chris said, finishing his explanation. "I've done the research. Six months of it… It just needs to be put in action." He edged a look of uncertainty to Leo. "I know it's complicated, but-"

"No, I meant what I said. This is great," Leo said. "Now you've got to show it to them."

Chris levelled a very obvious wince at the Elder. "Are you sure you get enough oxygen Up There?"

Leo pulled a 'haha, very funny' face with deadpan sarcasm that couldn't quite reach Chris' standards of sarcasm. _Because he never had Aunt Paige as a teacher_, Chris thought wryly. "We hide oxygen tanks in our robes," Leo remarked dryly, eliciting a small laugh from Chris, who stopped rather abruptly as he realised what he was doing. Leo frowned, but continued nonetheless. "I'm not being funny. This makes sense, even if none of your other plans have."

Chris exhaled, disgruntled. "Leo, they won't let me anywhere near them," he said, petulantly. "How the hell am I going to get this to them?"

"You won't know if you don't try," Leo said sagely.

Chris threw him a dirty look. A down-and-dirty look. "Seriously, do they program Elders with those cheesy clichés, or is it just something you picked up yourself?"

Leo rolled his eyes and got to his feet. Chris scrambled reluctantly to his feet too, putting the Book of Shadows back on its pedestal as Leo rolled up the Map and handed it to him with a tilt of one eyebrow.

"Don't tell me," Chris said at Leo's none-reply. "You have a cliché dictionary, and it's hidden in your robes."

Leo smirked, almost imperceptibly. It hovered on the corner of his mouth like a fairy. "You're a quick learner, I'll give you that."

"I-" But whatever Chris was about to say was lost, as an explosion rocked the house. The windows imploded inwards, shards of glass and dark water flew inwards. Chris only had time to fling his hands up to protect his eyes, before water rushed around him and something heavy hit him, and his world went black.

* * *

He looked around smugly, pleased with himself. Just in case either of the two weren't unconscious after that explosion, he turned and walked casually down the street. No one had seen him throw the potion. _Christopher should recognise the irony_, the shadowy figure thought, and he laughed a little as he sashayed happily down the street. _And he should definitely understand the message_.

He paused at the corner of the street, to see a familiar large vehicle cruise around the corner, driving up to the manor and skidding to a halt. The three Halliwells and the familiar looking man all scrambled out of the car, looking at the manor. All of the windows in the attic had been exploded inwards, and a fair portion of the wall as well. Brief seconds later it looked as if it hadn't happened, but he recognised a glamour when he saw it, and commended their quick thinking.

Still satisfied the message had been sent, he turned away again, to go the long way around to the back of the house. After all, he had to see how everything turned out, didn't he…

* * *

"Holy crap!" Paige almost screamed it as she flung herself out of Piper's SUV. Looking around, she saw the deserted street, and – as her sisters exclaimed similar swear words – quickly waved her hands and said the glamour spell. The front of the house shimmered, and appeared as normal.

Piper turned to look at Paige wordlessly, who shrugged.

"I'm guessing that there's a demon in there," Paige said. "Do we really want the attention of the neighbours?"

"Good point," Piper said, her brow furrowing. Briskly, she went to the other side of the car and lifted Wyatt out of the car seat, passing him to her father. "Dad, you stay here. If there's any _abnormal_ happenings, Wyatt's forcefield should protect you."

"What about you?" Victor asked, worry for her written all over his face.

"Well, I'm protected by the baby, aren't I," Piper lied, to keep Victor subdued. He nodded, clearly torn.

"All right, I'll take point," Phoebe said, her doe-brown eyes wide with worry, but her face awash with a steely determination. "Paige, you stay close to Piper. Anything happens, you orb her out."

Paige nodded, while Piper looked as if she was going to argue for a second, before Phoebe glared at her and she quietened.

"Fine," Piper grumbled. "I'd still like to know whoever gave pregnancy the synonym _incapable_."

Taking the lead, Phoebe cautiously pushed open the door. Paige and Piper followed a few feet behind. All of them jumped when the wind pushed the front door closed for them.

"Gah!" Piper yelled, stopping a fraction of an inch before blowing up the front door. Breathing hard, Paige looked sheepish and even Phoebe looked a little shocked.

"Downstairs is clear," Phoebe said eventually, coming back to the hallway with a shrug. Looking at each other nervously, and keeping their hands clear and outstretched ready to use, they headed to the first floor. Again, there was nothing, which left only the attic – where the destruction obviously was.

Apprehensively, they started to ascend the steps to the attic.

"It's wet," Phoebe realised, cringing in distaste as the water trickled onto her bare feet. Curious and heart thumping in rising terror, Phoebe hurried up a few steps, leaving her sisters a few steps behind, and opened the door to the attic. "Oh god!"

At Phoebe's incomprehensive yell of shock, Paige and Piper exchanged a glance and quickly hurried up the stairs. Bursting on the scene with her hands fully outstretched to blast whatever the hell it was, Piper stopped in astonishment.

The glamour had only covered outside the house. Inside was a different matter. Large shards of glass covered the floor, and black water was covering the floor amidst the broken furniture and bricks. Strangely, the Book of Shadows still stayed upright, and there was a swathe of cherry blossoms lying on the ground around it like a blanket.

Apart from the flowers and Book of Shadows remaining untouched, it was normal destruction fare. Piper was about to ask why Phoebe had yelled quite so loudly when she saw both of her sisters skittering over the destruction and water and stray blossoms that weren't carpeting the wet ground around the Book to two slumped figures on the ground, one blond, one covered in a lot of broken glass and wood.

Piper's heart constricted in her mouth as she recognised the one with blond hair. "Leo!" Forgetting her own state, she scrambled forwards, almost slipping on the strange dark water. Paige was already down by him, and she helped push him onto his side.

Leo started to splutter as soon as she did so, coughing out some water before opening his eyes and looking up at Paige and Piper. Wincing in pain, he helped Paige pull him upright into a sitting position. He looked a little daze.

"What happened?" Piper demanded, casting about the place, looking at the destruction.

"I don't know," Leo said, looking pained and anguished. He twisted his head to the other figure, which Phoebe was uncovering debris from so she could pull him up. "How's Chris?"

"_Chris_?" Piper demanded incredulously. Phoebe managed to pull Chris out of the debris he was covered in. The brown-haired half-Whitelighter had numerous cuts and grazes to his face, and his clothing was ripped in several places, showing blood. Piper watched as Chris coughed, opening his eyes and looking dazed, clinging onto a roll of paper.

"Piper-" Leo started. "He was just looking at the Book, to help Wyatt, before this happened-"

"I don't care!" Piper retorted, feeling her heart race as her anger rose, "he shouldn't have damned well even been here! In face, I would bet you a large amount of money this happened _because_ of him!"

Leo edged a look at Chris, expecting the coughing youngster to look ashamed, but Chris' face was blank as he saw the destruction. Something dark flickered in Chris' eyes.

"No-" Chris whispered, incomprehensibly to the those present, before lurching to his feet. Throwing the roll of paper he was holding recklessly to one side, he scrambled over to the Book, and threw himself down to the ground. He started ploughing through the cherry blossoms with his bare hands, despite the glass shards that bit further into his hands, making him bleed. The blood fell freely from his wounds, staining the fragile flowers, and causing Chris to stumble back upon seeing it. "NO!" Screaming now, he flung himself backwards, hugging his knees to him tightly even as he slammed his back against the wall. He hid his face in his knees, starting to rock and starting to cry bitterly.

Exchanging bewildered glances, it was Paige who got up from Leo's side to run across to him. She bent over, and tried to pry his hands away as he rocked, but to no avail. She looked across at them; her dark eyes alight with confusion and obvious worry for him.

"Chris-" Paige pleaded, turning back to him.

"Jeez!" They turned at the sound of Victor, who peeked through the door, Wyatt held tightly in his arms. Taking in the scene with widened eyes, Victor turned to look at Phoebe, Piper and Leo. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Leo said, getting to his feet and staring in bewilderment at Chris and Paige. "We were talking one minute, and then the whole place exploded inwards… Then when he woke up, he saw this, and just… freaked," he finished lamely.

Victor quickly passed Wyatt to a slightly baffled Piper, and strode quickly across the mess to join Chris and Paige.

"Here, let me," Victor said softly to Paige, who was so surprised that she moved back. Victor knelt down, disregarding the glass fragments he'd knelt on, and placed his hands over Chris'. "Chris. Chris. Listen. It's me. Come on."

Chris' stiffened under his hands, but the crying lessened, a little.

"Come on. Christopher." Victor's voice had a sterner edge. Something like a whimper escaped Chris' mouth, and he looked up hesitantly, his eyes red and swollen, blood covering his cheeks.

"_It's how she died_," Chris said hoarsely, staring at some imaginary point in space. "_It's how he killed her._"

Despite hurting from seeing Chris in such obvious pain, Victor couldn't resist asking, "Who?"

"_Wyatt_," Chris said, locking gazes with Victor. Victor almost reeled backwards from the force of the tangible grief in those stormy eyes. "_It's how Wyatt killed mom_." And he was lost again, ready to withdraw, and Victor without thinking pulled the limp young man into his arms. Chris began to shudder in the embrace, hiding his face in Victor's shoulder, and Victor just held him.

"Sshh," Victor said, comfortingly, rubbing his hands along Chris' back to calm him down, even as his insides fell. "Sshh. Everything's going to be _fine_."

"How?" Chris whispered brokenly, lifting his face, his eyes now bloodshot, but the action caused him to see the scene again. Shuddering, he pulled himself quickly out of Victor's arms and threw up in the corner, violently, before standing up and wiping his mouth, looking at the mess again blankly.

Victor quickly got up too. He looked at Paige. "Can you get him downstairs?" He asked the youngest sister.

Paige nodded, stepping forwards again, her pretty face drawn with worry. "Come on, sweetie," she said, her voice surprisingly gentle as she reached for him. Chris allowed his arm to be taken, and the two orbed away downstairs.

Stunned, Victor looked at Piper, Leo, Wyatt and Phoebe. His stomach sank as Wyatt whimpered a little, and Piper drew him closer. _It's how Wyatt killed mom_. Chris' words came back, and struck him. Bile rose in his throat. Eyes wide, Victor tried to hide what he'd just realised.

_It's how Wyatt killed mom_. Piper was holding Wyatt so tenderly… The boy who would grow up, and – if they couldn't stop him - murder his own mother...

**

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**


	7. Chapter the Seventh

**Neurotic

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**

A story of Christopher Perry Halliwell

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Charmed doesn't belong to me.

* * *

**Chapter The Seventh**

**

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**

"Right." Piper looked faintly disturbed at her father's slack-jawed expression, and then changed her expression to one of acute suspicion. "I think we all need to go downstairs and sort this out." She waved a finger at her father. Victor winced. "And you- you are in some almighty trouble."

Phoebe helped Leo to his feet. He gently started to glow as he did so and all his small cuts disappeared. "I need to heal Chris, too," Leo said.

"Right. Downstairs!" Piper said roughly.

They turned to move, and Leo stopped. "Wait a second," he said obtusely, and turned to stride across the room. He picked up the paper roll Chris had cast aside in his scramble to- well, none of them were sure what Chris had been intending to do. "Got it," he said.

Piper and Phoebe looked at him curiously, the latter unable to speak after the backwash of emotions from Chris had almost bowled her over too.

"W-what is it?" Phoebe eventually managed after moving her mouth uselessly for a second.

"Chris' Map," Victor and Leo said at the same time, exchanging wary glances afterwards.

"Map!" Phoebe exclaimed. "That's what the fortune teller told us about! Piper-" She stopped at the look on Piper's face.

"Right, yeah," Piper said, dazed. "Down. My head hurts, and the baby's deciding to kick a rather catchy drum beat on my kidneys, and if I don't get an explanation soon my head may just explode." Leo nodded at her, and then Piper realised exactly what she had just said, and the consequences of it. She looked suddenly uncertain at him, then down at her bump, and then back at Leo. "Uh-" she said, floundering.

"It's okay, I know," Leo said grimly.

"You do?" Piper asked, her heart catching in her throat.

"I think explanations are due," Victor said slowly, "and that downstairs is a good place to do it."

"Glad you agree," Leo said. Victor had only a second to look puzzled as Leo's eyes went a little distant, and then the ground disappeared beneath them. They appeared in the living room almost instantly, and Victor stumbled backwards in shock. An abrupt sense of nausea made him stagger again, and he let himself fall into the nearest available free chair. Opposite him, Paige and Chris were sat on one of the sofas, Chris looking almost hollow.

"Jeez, you should warn a fellow before you do that," Victor exclaimed, squinting at Leo.

Leo shrugged a little unapologetically before moving over to where Chris was seated. He moved his hands over him, and a yellow glow flowed through his hands and over the young man. The blood and gashes disappeared from his skin and clothing. Chris winced a little, and then looked up at Leo gratefully.

"Um, thanks," he said, his voice quiet.

"No problem," Leo returned, patting Chris' shoulder gently, sympathy in his eyes for Chris' emotional outburst.

"I-" Looking almost frightened, Chris lifted his gaze. "I- I'm sorry I was in the house without your permission," he said quickly, "but all I was doing was looking at the book, I swear-"

"It's all right," Phoebe said quickly. Piper opened her mouth to protest, but shut it quickly as Phoebe edged a glare at her. "You're the map reader we need, anyway."

Chris looked at her, confused.

"We met a fortune teller at the fair," Paige said, before stopping herself. "Did that sound like the beginning of a children's poem to anyone else?" She shook herself a little. "Anyway, she said we needed a map. She said-" Paige frowned. "Someone help me out here."

"She said _a Map will show you the way_," Phoebe said. "_Allow the map reader to help you, for he has gone through much trials and sufferings and seen too much death for someone as young as he, to get this Map to you_."

Chris looked at her, hard. "I see," he said, dubiously. "What else did she say?" At Phoebe's panicked look, he bit his lip a little in thought. "Okay, if she said a lot, let's hear each bit and try and decipher it."

Phoebe nodded in ascent. "One of you is concealing something. A child, yet not a child. Conflicted, who dreams of the destruction that has happened and yet has not happened so far. He is in mortal danger," Phoebe said.

"We thought that bit referred to the baby," Paige added. "You know, 'cuz he's concealed in the womb-"

"He?" Leo's head jerked up. Piper, Phoebe, Paige and Chris all nodded. Victor caught himself from doing so, just about.

"Yeah, we'll get to explaining things to you in a minute," Piper said.

"I thought it referred to Chris," Victor said, his cheeks a little red.

"You did? And you didn't say anything?" Phoebe demanded. "And how-"

"You were concealing him," Piper realised, her eyes wide in disbelief. She looked almost as if she'd been betrayed.

"I'm not sorry about it," Victor said, reasonably. "Christopher told me how much danger Wyatt was in, and I believe him."

"You also believed that freak that married you and wanted to kill Wyatt!" Piper snapped back, her voice rising with her temper.

Victor's face hardened. "This is different," he snapped back.

"Oh? You have proof this time that _he_ isn't evil?" Piper demanded.

"Piper Halliwell, you shut up right now," Victor said, his voice rising too. "This may be your house, but it does not give you the right to yell at him. Or me. No, I do not have any proof, but Christopher has told me things that nobody but- who he is – could know." He shifted awkwardly.

"Chris- sorry, _Christopher_-" Paige adjusted with a narrowed glance at Chris "-told you who he is?" She turned on Chris with an accusing glance on her pale heart-shaped face. "Well, go on! Who are you?"

"I can't tell you," Chris told them miserably. Actually, he told his shoes, but everyone else heard. He lifted his head and directed his gaze at Piper. "I want to. Believe me. But I can't."

"We'll get back to this later," Piper promised through gritted teeth. "But- he had proof for what he told you? And you trust him from it?" She asked her father.

Victor nodded. "I do."

"Well, then," Piper said. She looked at Chris, hard. "You are going to run any of your wilder stunts through one of us before you go off and do them. If there's an issue with- _who you are_," and there was a lot of sarcasm in her tone at that point, "then run it through dad."

"Then that means… I can be your Whitelighter again?" Chris asked, not believing it.

Almost as if in a huff, Piper nodded. "The fortune teller seemed genuine enough. This Map… could help my son. And I don't want to hurt my son. And I don't want him to be a... a killer," she added, a little tentatively.

Chris relaxed a little in his seat. Paige and Phoebe exchanged a glance, knowing that Piper was thinking about the last part of the fortune teller's words to them.

"What was the next part?" Chris asked, looking at Phoebe.

"She said that my view is clouded of late," Phoebe said, looking troubled. "And that my emotions are still in turmoil. I have seen something of the truth, and yet haven't acknowledged it yet. If I do not realise the one thing I have missed, the child who is not a child may suffer."

Chris frowned. "She said this directly at you?" At Phoebe's nod, he looked away for a second, and then back again. "Something only you've experienced, then."

"Then Piper asked if the child who is not a child, blah, blah, blah, was her child," Paige said helpfully. "I remember that bit."

"And the woman said…" Phoebe cocked her head a little as she tried to remember it verbatim. "_You look at the world through a narrow perspective,_ _but you will understand_."

"I get that part," Chris said blandly. "But move on."

Phoebe eyed him evilly for a second, then shrugged. "Then there was the map bit. And then she said, _keep your minds open, all of you. The pieces of the puzzle are there, you just have to put them together. A friend who is not a friend will betray you. And your son- You three will hurt him, quite deliberately. You will mean him harm and you will deal him harm. And he has been hurt so much already_—"

That bit obviously disturbed Chris, as he rocked backwards a little. "A friend who is not a friend will betray you?" His face was blank for a second.

"Chris?" Victor prompted. Chris looked at him, slightly nervously. "What have you figured out?"

"Oh, nothing specific, just…" Chris frowned a little. "I've been plotting on the Map all the possible evils that will attack Wyatt, the best order to vanquish them, et cetera, but… Only evil." His face was blank as he thought.

"So you think-" Paige looked shocked. "A friend? Someone we know?"

"Or knew," Phoebe said, a little startled too.

"Well, it can't hurt to add them to the Map too," Victor said reasonably. "We have to be prepared to keep everything away from Wyatt for the next five weeks."

"Next five weeks?" Piper asked.

"Whatever happens to Wyatt happens before-" And Chris inexplicably hesitated for a second. "Before your second son is born."

"Five weeks," Piper repeated. "Huh. But doesn't that make it- uh- late?"

Chris shrugged apologetically. "Sorry. But it has to happen then, Piper."

She glared at him a little.

"Just think of it this way," Chris said good-naturedly, "you won't have any false alarms."

"Uh-huh. Thanks a lot for that, Christopher." Piper looked disgruntled, and folded her arms across her bump. Chris wrinkled his nose at his full name. Piper raised one eyebrow, as if to say to him '_what are you going to do about it?'_ and Chris quickly stopped pulling a face.

"Um," Leo said, looking a little white-washed. "Are you going to tell me now how come you know it's a boy? And um, when, when were you going to tell me?"

"Well, to be fair, you weren't here to tell," Paige said agreeably.

Leo ignored that, except for a slight tightening of his jaw. "Paige-" he warned gently.

Paige rolled her eyes and spread her arms. "Just trying to be helpful," she said.

"Uh, well, you know- It was hard enough for you to leave Wyatt… I couldn't bear telling you there were going to be _two_ for you to-" Piper couldn't finish the sentence. "Anyway. Phoebe had a vision in the school of the second child – a boy."

"He was really cute," Phoebe said, nodding.

"And then I had the sonogram," Piper said. "Boy."

"There's a sonogram?" Leo's head lurched up, and he looked at Piper hard, his eyes searching her face. She flushed under the scrutiny.

"Yeah," Piper said. "Paige, would you-"

Paige nodded, and scampered off to the kitchen. She ran back in clutching it, and passed it to Leo. "Here you go. Although I still can't see it."

Leo looked at the photo in disbelief, his eyes widening. "Yeah," he whispered, "cute," he said, agreeing wholeheartedly. "And, um, you can tell it's a boy by that little thing there-"

"Ohhh," Paige said. Victor peeked over Leo's shoulder to look at it, even though he'd already seen it several times over the last couple of weeks when he'd come to the manor to sneak small peeks at the Book for Chris' Map. He looked at Chris, who had squirmed a little in disbelief at what they were saying.

"Chris, you want to look?" Phoebe said, putting her head on one side as Leo dazedly passed it back to Paige, and Paige passed it to Phoebe to admire again.

"Uhhh---" Chris said. "I think I'll pass." He looked decidedly queasy. At Phoebe's quick glance of worry, he tried to explain. "I really don't want to throw up over it, and I still feel a bit-"

"I think it's time to get you home," Victor said stridently, getting to his feet. At that, he turned and looked a little sheepishly at Piper. "I let him stay with me, at my apartment," he explained quickly. "You feel up to orbing, Chris?"

Chris looked at him in gentle surprise. "You sure?" He looked dubious. "I know you get used to it in the future, but-"

"I do?" Victor said, at the same time as Piper amusedly said, "He does?"

Chris looked a little startled that he'd said too much, and he paled. "Um. Anyway- Leo, man, would you mind teaching them how to use the Map? I'm totally beat, and-" He edged a look upstairs, a look of fear washing over his face.

"You don't want to go up there again," Phoebe said, understanding washing over her face. She looked at him shrewdly. "It really hit you hard, didn't it? Normally I can't feel anything from you, but I- I felt that…"

"I'd rather not talk about it," Chris said quietly, tilting his chin upwards in a rather mulish way.

"Okay," Phoebe said. "But we'll be here if you do want to."

"Nice try," he said, with a wry smile stretching his face. "Mr. Bennett?" He said, and if it was a little hesitant or stilted, no one picked up on it. "You ready to go?"

"In a sec," Victor said. "You want to wait in the kitchen for me?"

Chris nodded. "Sure. Um, thanks, Leo, for, you know, healing me-"

"No problem," Leo said, as Chris walked swiftly to the kitchen, hands deep in his pockets.

Victor watched him go uneasily, and turned to Piper seriously. "He's been through a lot, that kid. He really does want to save Wyatt."

"And would you trust him with your life?" Piper questioned briefly.

"Yes."

Piper was caught off-guard by his confident, quick answer. "Wyatt's life?"

"I would trust him with the future of human life," Victor said loyally. "After all- that's why he's here."

"Well, then, I suppose he does deserve a second chance," Piper said. "But if he puts Wyatt in danger deliberately one more time-"

"I'll talk to him," Victor promised. "I love you, sweetheart," he said, leaning down and pressing a kiss into her hair. Smiling at her, he walked across the room, did the same to Phoebe, and grinned at Paige before leaving the room. He walked into the kitchen, where Chris was looking at him curiously.

"You heard," Victor said. It wasn't a question.

Chris nodded. "I- Thank you."

"No problem," Victor said, his voice light. "I meant what I said. You do have to tell them who you are."

Chris shifted, uneasily.

"But not today," Victor conceded. "They- and you- have been through enough. Just one thing-"

"What?" Chris asked.

"Does Wyatt really kill—your mother?" Victor asked, phrasing it carefully in case anyone could overhear.

Chris' face instantly tightened. "I didn't-" His voice faltered, and he looked through the window, miserable. Finally, he whispered, "Yes. Yes he did."

"Can you tell me when?"

For a second, Chris looked as if he was about to, then he shook his head violently before turning away. It took Victor a second to realise that Chris wasn't crying, even though his shoulders shook.

"Hey. We're going to stop this, Chris," Victor said. Chris turned around, and put his hands out. Victor took them, and they orbed away.

There was no movement for a long moment, and then a face appeared at the back window. An obscured face except for the eyes. Dark eyes. Dark black eyes. He sprinkled the last of the cherry blossoms on the ground, his gaze lingering on the empty kitchen. _Oh, Christopher, this pain is only the beginning…_ The figure smiled, the cloth over his face shifting at the expression.

Rubbing his hands together at his handiwork, the figure grinned wider, and disappeared in a twinkling of very familiar blue lights…

Orb lights.

* * *


	8. Chapter the Eighth

**Neurotic

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**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

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**Chapter The Eighth**

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**

"Something's really weird about all of this," Paige said, as she mopped up some of the debris in the attic.

Phoebe looked across at her sister and nodded. "I know. This water is so _black_. I mean, is it even water? It's totally stained my favourite sandals…" At her words, she looked down at them. "But- ooh, they're black now! Maybe they'll go with that strappy halter top I bought the other day-"

Paige looked at her older sister incredulously. "What are you on?" She demanded. "And where can I get some?"

"Heh?" Phoebe pulled a face as she continued mopping up the mysterious black water with some old rags. "I-"

"Never mind," Paige grouched. "I was just wondering about how weird this whole thing is. You know. With your dad and Chris being so chummy, and- Man, sometimes I really don't get Chris' stupid ways, but he was really in pain yesterday…"

"And what he said about Wyatt," Phoebe said, pausing as she locked gazes with Paige. "I wish I could say that he was lying, but-" She faltered. "He was telling the truth, I could feel it to the very core of my bones…"

Paige nodded slowly, resuming cleaning up as she did so. "I could feel it, too. Don't ask me how, but something- something inside- _felt_ so badly for him."

Phoebe fell silent for a moment. "Hey, maybe we can… save a bit of this water. Maybe scry for it, see where it came from."

"Good idea," Paige said. "There's some spare potion jars on the undamaged bookcase over there."

Phoebe bobbed her head in agreement again, and climbed to her feet, the black water running down her bared legs. She hitched her rolled-up trousers higher so they wouldn't fall down again and be damaged, and walked carefully over to the bookcase.

She reached for one of the spare potion jars, her hand brushing one of the other ornaments, and she suddenly froze. Her eyes fluttered shut and she gasped, falling backwards in shock.

"Pheebs?"

Phoebe was faintly aware of Paige staggering to her feet and running over to her, but she couldn't muster the strength to stop her or turn around or even talk. Paige reached over, touching her shoulders and turning her around. Phoebe grabbed the ornament as she did so, holding it forth to Paige.

"I-" Phoebe stuttered. "I think Chris must have touched this." She put one hand to her forehead, her head resounding from the sudden images that had impacted her mind. "I saw- I don't know what I saw. I think I saw… Wyatt killing his mom…"

"You saw it?"

Both Phoebe and Paige turned to see a very pale and quiet Piper standing in the doorway, her face gaunt from the lack of sleep the previous night.

"I'm not sure," Phoebe said, chewing on her lower lip. "I saw a younger Chris – it was definitely him, Piper, but he looked – gods – so scared, barely a teenager. He was shouting and yelling at this lanky, blond-haired boy with a sword in his hand… Calling him Wyatt."

Phoebe trailed off, suddenly uncertain.

"And?" Paige demanded, impatiently.

"-the rest was so unclear," Phoebe said. "There was a woman- but I couldn't see her face. She had short, dark hair, and Wyatt—" Phoebe shuddered. "Just smirked over at Chris as he stabbed her. And Chris was screaming so hard, but I think- I think there was something holding him back, because he was struggling, and-- Wyatt—he killed someone else. I didn't see them, a darker figure, and—"

Phoebe was obviously struggling to recall it all, as he eyes closed and the rapid movement under her eyelids showed her fervour to remember what she'd seen.

After a moment, she continued. "-and Wyatt gestured and both the woman and the other person were flung into the lake… And the lake was so dark. Black, even. And there were…" Her head flung up in astonishment. "Cherry blossoms. Everywhere. All over the lake and the ground. And Wyatt, he- Chris must have been let go—'cause Wyatt was laughing, and Chris was scrambling over to the lake, and- And there was a name I heard called out too. Paul. But - Oh, god-" Phoebe had to stop. Paige pulled her shaking sister into a hug, and exchanged a long dark glance with Piper.

Piper couldn't hold the gaze, and she looked around at the destroyed attic. "No wonder he couldn't handle this…" she said, her voice light and tightened, as if she was in pain. "If I had to come back and find something like- like when Prue died-" She couldn't finish the sentence, and she looked back at Paige and Phoebe, hard. "We have to stop this from happening to Wyatt. We have to."

There was silence as mutual understanding reigned.

"Um, no offence Piper, but we told you to rest. What are you doing up here?" Paige asked, breaking the hush.

"Oh." Piper shook herself a little, as if to shake off the sombre mood. "Dad just called. Apparently Chris had a really rough night, so they're coming over this afternoon, not for lunch like we agreed."

"Great," Paige said grimly. "'cause there's something about that Map that I don't get. Leo explained how to use it really well, we'll be able to take out a satisfying number of demons over the next couple of weeks with it, but-" She frowned, her pretty face crumpling as her thoughts meandered over the one aspect of the Map troubling her. "There's that wide column that runs down the left, with all the initials in them. You know, like M.H., L.T., etc. Leo didn't tell us what it meant, and I asked him before he left. He said Chris never explained it to him either."

"Well, maybe it's just shorthand potion ingredients, or something," Phoebe said, with a shrug. "I'm sure it's all explainable."

"Well whatever it is, I'm sure we'll get an answer this afternoon," Piper said. "Are you _sure_ you two can handle this?"

"Piece of cake," Paige said bravely, brandishing a dirty rag at Piper. Piper wrinkled her nose and held her hand to her mouth.

"Gnurggh," Piper said, eloquently.

"You! Get downstairs and rest your pregnant ass," Phoebe commanded, and Piper, with a rueful grin, complied. Phoebe looked across at Paige, who reached past her and picked up one of the empty jars.

"Watery stuff!" Paige commanded, and some of the black water sparkled into the jar that Paige held forth. She put the stopper in with a very determined look on her face. At Phoebe's look, she shrugged. "I still think we ought to find out where it is. Maybe take a look around." At Phoebe's continued stare, she hurried to add, "Without Chris, obviously."

"I don't know," Phoebe said, her voice trailing off a little. "Maybe he should go. Work out his feelings. To react like that- so violently… Paige, it hurt _me_, him seeing that. And with his feelings blocked to me already, I'd hate to feel what he's experiencing… He's trapped them up so badly that when a little bit of it got out-" She stopped, a smile with little humour falling on her face. "I've never felt anything like it before. So if he can get it out somehow, I think we should help."

"But he doesn't want to open up," Paige said, "at least not to us, anyway. And how come your dad is so sure he _can _be trusted?"

"I don't know," Phoebe said, "but I felt… I don't know… something almost like _pride_… from him. When he looked at Chris." Her eyes drifted out to where there was boarding over the windows until they could get the glass fixed. Light fell through into the attic in small beams where the wood didn't cover the opening, and a light breeze tousled the blossoms still carpeting the floor. "I feel like I'm almost grasping at what the truth is, but I can't quite reach it. And if I just _found_ it-" She fell silent. "Am I making any sense?" She asked eventually.

"Nope," Paige said cheerfully. "But I trust _you_, so I'm thinking of just going with the flow for the moment."

"All-righty-then," Phoebe said.

"And without any Jim Carrey impersonations, that would be swell," Paige added.

Phoebe just laughed as she bent down to start clearing up again.

* * *

"Why can't we just walk?" Victor moaned. "It's a perfectly fine method of transportation."

Chris shot an amused glance at him. "Why couldn't we go for lunch? I was perfectly fine then."

Victor glared at him. "It wasn't my fault the tuna was so wet, and you know it."

"Wet?" Chris levelled a disbelieving look at him through a heavy curtain of brown hair. "You _drowned _it in vinegar. It's a good thing the fish was dead before you did that, that's all I have to say."

Victor narrowed his eyes. "You have a fascination with vinegar, don't you?"

"It's what the sisters threatened to fry me in," Chris said dismissively. "Are we going yet?"

"They _what_?" Victor spluttered.

"Threatened. To. Fry. Me. In. Vinegar," Chris said slowly, over-pronouncing each word. "Look, if I have to repeat everything I say, it'll be after four when we get there, and trust me – Mom hates lateness the most. Um. After dirtiness. Did you wash your hands?"

"Yes I washed my hands, mother," Victor snapped back, still looking decidedly angsty. At Chris' look, he held his hands out reluctantly. "Go on then."

Grinning, Chris orbed them out. They arrived in the hallway.

"Good, you're here!" Piper called out. She walked – well, waddled actually – out to greet them.

"You heard us?" Victor said, his head still ringing a little.

"Nah," Piper said. "It's exactly four. Chris at _least_ has a thing for punctuality if nothing else."

Chris grimaced at her. "Thanks," he said, sarcastically.

"You forgot his gift of sarcasm," Victor pointed out.

"And that he needs his hair cutting," Piper added.

"And his constant _secrecy_!" Paige added, hurrying down the stairs drying her hair with a towel to join them.

"What, is this get at Chris day?" Chris demanded incredulously.

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, you know," Victor added, sharing an amused grin with Piper.

Chris mumbled something.

"What was that?" Piper asked, one eyebrow arched.

"I said, at least a little bit of wit is better than none at all," Chris said.

Piper chuckled a little at her dad's outraged expression. "Anyhow, we're communing in the dining room, I think."

"That's the place people serve actual food," Chris commented to his grandfather as they slowly joined Piper around the table. Chris noted his Map unrolled on it, and felt a little bit queasy as Paige sat on one chair forcing him to sit next to the column he'd been afraid they would ask him about.

"Very funny," Victor commented darkly. He rolled his eyes at Piper's quizzical glance. "Don't even- Well, let's just say you got your cooking ability from your mother."

"Yeah, did he try making sandwiches?" Piper asked Chris.

"Ahuh," Chris said. "I don't get how someone who can _cook_ – I mean, you can cook, Mr. Bennett – but how do you mess up a _sandwich_?"

"With excessive vinegar," another voice said, and they turned to see Phoebe coming in from the kitchen with a pitched of Iced Tea and some homemade cookies.

"Actually, Chris, I think it's get at _Victor_ day," Victor grouched.

There was a small amount of awkward silence as they all looked at each other. Chris shifted in his seat, and decided to bite the bullet, as it were.

"I'm guessing you've made sure I sat here for a reason," Chris said lightly, his green eyes lightening to become unreadable. "The one column Leo couldn't explain, right?"

"Disco," Paige said, as if saying _bingo_. Piper, Phoebe and Victor squinted at her while Chris just chuckled a little. "What?" Paige grouched. "You've never seen _Pulp Fiction_?"

Three heads shook at one.

"I have," Chris volunteered. "Actually, you showed it to me. Or… will show it to me." He wrinkled his nose a little again. "Time travel _really_ does my head in."

"I do?" Paige looked a little confused. "I know you in the future, then?"

Chris shifted, suddenly uneasy. "-yes. But I can't-"

"-tell me how, I know, I know," Paige grouched. "Anyway. The column."

"With the initials?" Chris' voice was light, but the tension was obvious on his face. "It corresponds with the people killed by those demons."

"…I see," Paige said, subdued.

"But there's no P.H's anywhere," Phoebe said brightly. "That's a good thing, right?"

Chris smiled, humourlessly. "Right," he said, the sarcasm thick in his voice. The three sisters exchanged a glance. "Uh. So. Are you going to, um, start dealing with these demons?"

"We are," Piper agreed. "Although we do want to look down this _friend_ angle, and- We've all talked, and we think that either there's a mind-reading demon out there after you, or… Wyatt sent someone back."

Chris looked at her hard when she spoke those words. "Wait- you believe me?" His voice rose, a little incredulously. "I- I think it's the latter," he said. "I took a potion to suppress people trying to read my mind."

"I knew it!" Phoebe said triumphantly, punching the air with her fist. Everyone looked at her, and she flushed sheepishly. "Okay, everybody. Carry on." She gestured with her hands, and buried herself in a glass of Iced Tea.

"So how about, we work on the first few groups on the Map, and you do a little research into whoever you think it is causing this disturbance," Piper said. "And we'll call you if we have any problems."

"Okay, sure-" Chris said.

"That won't exactly be necessary."

All five looked at each other when those words floated into the room, and then, when they realised none of them had spoken the words, they turned around with dread to face the direction the voice had come from.

A dark figure stood there, tall and lanky, completely covered in black except for his eyes, which were dark, like deep pools which fell down into the earth forever.

Piper waved her hands to try and freeze the intruder, but to no avail. She moved back instinctively. "Who the hell are you?"

"Me? I'm from the future." The figure laughed a very deep laugh, and Chris' eyes widened as the figure moved his hand to his head and pulled off the material shrouding him.

He couldn't have been any older than sixteen. The figure had dark brown hair, which fell to his shoulders, and his eyes were all the more piercing when framed by it. He had angular eyebrows, defined cheekbones and a sallow look to his young face.

"It can't be- it can't be-" Chris said, his eyes wide open, a look of supreme fear and loathing on his face. Victor edged a look at Chris and back to the stranger. He picked up on the resemblance in looks even if it wasn't immediately obvious, and his mouth fell open slightly.

The stranger directed a very brief look of hatred towards Chris, who abruptly shut up before he turned to a surprised Piper, directing his gaze directly at her

"My name's Paul. Paul Halliwell." The figure said confidently to a dumbstruck group of people. A smile curved onto his face, but it was filled with danger and a dark sort of amusement.

"Halliwell?" Piper breathed in disbelief, her eyes wide open with shock. She looked down at her bump, and then back at the boy. "Then that means-"

"Yes, Piper," Paul said, his sallow face twisting with a bitter amusement. "I'm your son."

**

* * *

**


	9. Chapter the Ninth

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

* * *

**Chapter The Ninth**

**

* * *

**

"You're my son." Piper stared at the new arrival, stunned.

Paul made a great show of lifting on elegant if angular arm and inspecting his fingernails dryly. "Yes. But don't worry- I didn't come here for any tearful family reunions."

Piper's face was a mirror of confusion. "What do you mean? Why _are_ you here?"

Paul smiled easily, and it had a hint of felinity in it. "To give Christopher here a message."

Piper looked over to where Chris stood, almost shaking and a lot paler than before, and turned back to see Paul taking off a black rucksack. He threw it casually onto the table, where it fell with a thud.

"Oh, by-the-way, I'm sorry about the destruction upstairs." Paul was still smiling that easy smile, but it had more of a sense of uneasiness for his almost-captive audience. "Can't risk that Wyatt hasn't sent _two_ messengers to deliver these messages, now can I?"

"Wyatt sent you?" Piper asked hesitantly, taking a half-step forwards, her brown eyes searching his face.

"Wyatt sends everybody," Paul returned smoothly. "Well, then, I expect to see you all again sometimes. That's only two messages I've sent, and I haven't even got to the _fun_ ones yet. Oh, and Christopher-" Chris' head jerked up, his cheeks burning a little, at the sound of his name. "-be a dear and _do_ open that up yourself. I know how very fond you are of everyone around that table, and I wouldn't want the surprise really _ruined_- If you catch my drift." He stepped backwards, still smiling that cold, cold smile. "I must be off. Can't spend all my time here languishing in the presence of such careless witches and such a traitor," and here he stared coolly at Chris "more's the pity."

Before they could say anything else, Paul gestured with his left hand and disappeared in a shower of blue and silver orb lights.

"Careless witches?" Piper questioned the empty space left behind quietly as she very dazedly sat down, before turning back to Chris, who was looking at the bag. Looking at the bag as if it might explode.

"At least you don't have to worry about thinking of a name for this baby," Phoebe offered helpfully, looking a little shell-shocked.

"Yes, you do," Chris said, but as if he was very distracted and not really paying attention to the conversation. His eyes were still riveted to the bag. "Paul's your third son."

"My- third-" Piper's face turned a curious shade of green before she remembered to breathe again, and she stared up at Chris accusingly. "My _third_ child?"

"Hmm?" Chris said, before looking upwards at her and instantly colouring. "Oh, shit," he said, eloquently. He looked at her, looking more wretched than even the day before. "I don't suppose you could forget I said that," he said, hopefully.

"Nu-uh, mister," Piper said accusingly. "I'm going to be having _serious_ words with you some time."

"But not now?" Paige demanded. "Why not now?"

Piper ignored her youngest sister, focussing her energies on maintaining a scowl. Chris, his cheeks still dark, resumed his tentative stare at the bag. "Well, I've got one thing to say about the method of packaging," Chris said, as if trying to make a joke, but the girls couldn't see anything funny. Looking up at their baffled expressions, he shrugged slightly. "It's my old school rucksack," he explained.

"What, so Wyatt's got my, um, third nephew to come back in time to give you your homework to do?" Paige asked scathingly, in disbelief.

Chris gave her a just as withering stare in return. "That's assuming Phoebe doesn't have any boys," he said flippantly, as Phoebe's eyes grew round and he just smiled at her brightly. "But what, do I look like I should be in high school?"

"Well, no," Paige admitted grudgingly. "But I've never been good with ages."

A little disgruntled, but clearly still shaken by Paul's unexpected arrival, he turned back to the bag. Gingerly picking it up, he stepped away from the table and into the hallway. "Just in case it explodes," he explained as he put up one hand indicating for them to stay back. Carefully, he unbuckled the strap, and pulled the flap open.

Chris' face instantly drained of all colour, and he almost dropped the bag, stopping it from falling by quickly grabbing at the strap. He clamped a hand to his mouth, and carefully put the bag down on the floor before turning and flinging the front door open. He staggered down a couple of steps before throwing up in the bushes, violently.

"Guess my sandwiches really did disagree with him," Victor said, in a stunned daze. The bravest of them all, Paige stepped forwards and walked towards the bag Chris had placed on the floor. Edging a look at the others, she bent down and peered inside.

Instantly her face went pale too, but she grimaced instead of needing to throw up and quickly resealed the bag before picking it up gently as if cradling it. Carefully, she placed it on one of the side tables, and edged a few glances towards it as Chris sheepishly came back in.

"I'm sorry," Chris said, with a half-laugh of what they all recognised as a shaky, nervous laugh rather than amusement. "All I seem to be doing around here recently is messing up and throwing up."

"You can use the sink in the kitchen," Piper said softly to the clearly strung young man. He nodded his thanks, and headed out to the sunny room. They all turned curiously to Paige, who was still grimacing. "What was it?"

"It's…" Paige lowered her voice to that of a whisper. "Bianca. Or, I assume, what's left of her."

"Oh god!" Phoebe exclaimed, clamping a hand to her mouth in horror as she stared open mouthed at the bag.

"That's _sick_," Piper whispered, unconsciously edging her chair away from the table with the bag on it.

"Uh," Victor said, looking between the girls worriedly, grimacing too just from their words, "who's Bianca?"

"What, did _Christopher_ not tell you that?" Paige said, before shifting a little. "Sorry. Um. Force of habit."

"She was my fiancée," came Chris' quiet voice as he came back in from the kitchen, his eyes downcast, almost as if he was trying to read something that they couldn't see.

Victor looked at Chris wordlessly, finally settling on patting him on the shoulder. "God, what a horrible way to find out that someone's dead…"

"I knew she was dead," Chris said quickly, but with an anguished look on his face. "Can we not talk about this, please?" His question was rushed, quiet and heartily understood.

"Do you mind talking about Paul?" Piper questioned. She paused. "_Paul_. I guess I finally did crack and give a P name."

"If you didn't to your second child," Phoebe said, sharing a shrug with Piper.

"I can't say too much," Chris said quickly, his face looking a lot gaunter than it had when he'd arrived. "But if there's something that can help that won't spoil the future, sure."

"Is it Leo's?" Piper asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You're very good at opening with questions that I can't answer," Chris said, a little disgruntled.

"Do you- did you know him? Paul, I mean." Paige asked curiously.

"Yes," Chris said, nodding. "At least I thought I did. But I betrayed him, and Wyatt, and what they stood for. What they thought I should believe in, too."

"Which was-" Phoebe prompted.

"That there is no such thing as good or evil. There are only those with power, and those without." Chris smiled grimly, his mouth pressed together tightly for a moment. "And, of course, those without power aren't worth anything."

"But that's-" Phoebe spluttered a little. "That's basically the _credo_ of evil," she said, a little outraged. "You can't say something doesn't exist, and then blatantly steal from it!"

"Yeah, you can," Paige said. "If you're the evil overlord of the entire planet."

Chris looked at her thankfully. "Exactly," he said.

"Those without power?" Piper questioned briefly.

"Also known as, everyone with less power than him," Chris said grimly. "A.K.A. pretty much everyone."

"Pretty much," Phoebe picked up on. "Then there's someone more powerful than him."

Somewhere deep within Chris' eyes, a door slammed closed. "I think we're edging into dangerous territory," he said.

"You see, that's just what I don't get!" Piper said, suddenly feeling horribly frustrated. "You say you came back to change this horrible future – which, by my apparently _third _child's 'message'-" this word was laced with more sarcasm than even Chris would use "- I'm starting to believe is actually as bad as you say. But you refuse _to_ change the future! If we _knew_ what the future was, then maybe we could help figure out a way to stop it from happening!"

Chris looked at her, a lost look in his eyes. "Do you sincerely want to do destroy the future for once and for all? Do you?" His voice was harsh as he crossed the floor, staring at baby Wyatt with an unreadable emotion on his face. He turned, and glared at them. "What do you want me to say? That we _lost_ all of you? We lost the power of three? Even with your three children, Piper, it was _gone_? Because Wyatt was subverted to evil? Because even though you vanquished over a _thousand_ demons, it was the one no one ever knew about that got you? That got _him_?"

Chris paused briefly to gulp in air. "_What do you want to know_? That Wyatt tortured your other two children? Left them scarred, hiding all their lives, _alone_? Because you weren't_ there_. You _weren't there_."

"Chris-" Phoebe started, her voice soft, her large brown eyes wide with an open sympathy.

"_Don't_ Chris me." Chris stared at them. "You stand there, still really judging me, not trusting me. I don't know why I should trust you the _smallest _bit because of what you did to those children!"

"Death isn't something that can be fended off so easily," Piper said, her voice trembling even as she tried to keep it level. "And I would never abandon Wyatt - or-" her voice cracked, "any of my children without a damned good fight."

Chris dropped his head, and he stared at the ground. Eventually he spoke. "I-I know. It's just. You had to stand by and watch Phoebe turn evil. And know your sister Prue was never coming back. You've suffered too. But at least- You had hope. Hope's a very rare commodity in my future." He smiled once, fiercely, through the threatening tears that did not fall. "And I've said even too much."

"Perhaps telling us will help us avoid the unpleasant bits," Paige suggested.

"Ever the optimist until the end," Chris said, looking at her as if she was made of glass. Paige swallowed at the despair and finality in his voice. He shrugged, letting his tense posture relax. "Look- I-" He hung his head slowly. "I shouldn't have said that- And now Paul's here, and I can't even understand _why_." The last part was flung out so broken, so heartfelt, that Piper stepped forwards of her own volition.

"Hey," she said gently, and Chris raised his gaze to meet hers. She reached forwards, squeezing his hand. "I do trust you." A wry look crossed her face. "Very often I don't _want_ to believe you. It's hard to accept that I'm going to be such a terrible mom…"

"No!" Chris' adamant refusal was sharp, and surprised Piper. "No. This isn't your fault. No one saw it the first time round. And from- from what I saw of your family, before- before it all went crap- your three boys loved you. Loved you so much."

Now Piper was the one holding back tears. She took both of his hands in hers. "Thank you."

He just smiled back, and fell backwards, letting her hands fall away with a regret they would never know, never would be able to know. "I'm going to check the Book, see if there's any way of keeping Paul away from the house." He paused uncertainly. "That's it you want him keeping away."

"Yeah, we do," Paige said gruffly, touched by the raw honesty that had been displayed, even as Chris had lost his temper slightly. "Um, do you want me to take care of-" Paige floundered for the right word, and instead jerked her head towards the bag.

Chris looked at the bag softly, and for a moment he was lost. Then he pulled himself back to reality. "Please," he said, with heartbreaking intensity before turning and running up the stairs.

There was silence as Victor and the girls looked at each other. Piper distracted herself with trying to keep Wyatt occupied.

"Do you think Paul was the son the fortune teller meant?" Paige said, her voice and face tight with emotion. "From what Chris said, he's been hurt already… And if he puts any of us in danger from these _messages_…" She trailed off, flickering glances between her sisters and her nephew.

"Then we have to do what we have to do," Piper said quietly, raising her chin determinedly as they looked at her. "We have to stop Wyatt from being turned no matter what." Her fists clenched in her lap, and it was then that they noticed that she was crying, had been crying since Chris had let go of her hands. Sounding more lost than she ever had, Piper shook her head furiously, distraught at what would happen to her children if they failed. "No matter what!"

**

* * *

**


	10. Chapter the Tenth

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

* * *

**Chapter The Tenth

* * *

**

"You've done well so far."

Paul looked up, a sneer openly on his face as he looked up at his supervisor. "What, I threw a potion, snarked a bit to my mom and gave my older brother his fiancée's head? I really don't think you _can_ do those things well."

The demon shuffled. "I've got your next assignment," he said, instead.

Paul rolled his eyes. "Well, whoopee." It was clear that he'd inherited Chris' sense of when to use sarcasm. Also known as- at any opportunity possible. "Go on then. Do spill. I'm absolutely riveted as to what big brother could possibly want me to do."

"You know he does not appreciate your insubordinate behaviour," the demon said, quite pompously in Paul's opinion.

"Correction," Paul said, a little grumpily as he leant back against the cliff wall. "Wyatt enjoys my little attempts at subversion. _You're_ the only one who gets pissy that I'm not a subservient whelp."

"You _are_ a whelp," the demon snapped back. "Barely a teen in _human_ standards. Why, if you were _my_ offspring – perish the thought – you would still be considered a pup."

Paul started to nod, and then froze. "Pup? Dear god, you _are_ descended from a pug. I was _kidding_." He pretended to stare in astonishment, his brown eyes twinkling with disdain.

"Anyway," the demon said, drawing itself up a little, blood-red eyes narrowing with distaste for Paul, "as I was saying, you're to implement step three."

"No, not step three! Anything but step three!" Paul exclaimed mock-theatrically, pressing the back of one hand to his forehead. The demon looked confused. Paul dropped his hand and looked at the demon resignedly. "Missed out on the class where you got a sense of humour, huh?"

The demon just scowled.

Paul gave up, and sighed. "What does Lord Wyatt want me to do?"

The demon told him.

Paul stared for a second. The demon smirked, enjoying seeing the youngest Halliwell boy caught off guard. "He wants me to _what_?"

The demon told him again, smirking wider.

"Bloody hell," Paul said. For a third time, he squinted at the demon. "Are you sure he really just wants me to pick an argument with Chris?"

"That _is_ what he said," the demon said.

"Huh," Paul said, as the demon continued to look smug. The demon shimmered away, leaving Paul alone to contemplate the sea and his next order.

Instead of orbing away at that exact time to execute the plan, Paul settled down onto one of the larger rocks, and stared out at the sea. "Wyatt, man, what the hell are you planning?" He asked the sea, his brown eyes distant, and – perhaps – a hint of discontent on his young face.

* * *

"Yippy-ki-ay!"

Paige looked askance at Phoebe as the diminutive clairvoyant witch jumped in the air triumphantly. Phoebe realised her sister wasn't joining in with her jubilation, and turned to stare at her accusingly.

"It _was_ cool, wasn't it?" Phoebe eventually asked, toeing the ground with her fluffy pink boots and pouting, just a little bit.

Paige relented her stony expression a little. "Yeah. We did kick demon ass pretty well, if I do say so myself."

"Three groups of demons with the power of two, wasn't it?" Phoebe recalled, a look of smug happiness on her face.

"All thanks to Chris' Map," Paige reminded, smiling as Phoebe's jubilant look faded.

"Yeah," Phoebe said. "Where _is_ Chris, anyway?"

"With Piper, going through our address books," Paige explained.

Phoebe squinted. "That could take a while."

"You don't say," Paige said, flatly. "Wanna orb up and see?"

"Aw, can't a girl take a little time to bask?" Phoebe questioned, looking around the gore-splattered cavern with a pleased look.

"You wanna bask up _there_ where there _aren't_ multitudes of demons where we _will_ need the power of three?"

Phoebe nodded, and let Paige orb her back to the house.

They reappeared to the sound of a very lively discussion.

"You _can't_ put the Elders on there, Chris, Leo would flip!" Piper said, elbowing Chris aside a little. Chris was standing with his arms akimbo, attempting to glare her down. It wasn't working.

"I don't _care_ about Leo," Chris snapped back. At Piper's look, he amended his statement. "I don't care about Leo _flipping_, we have to look at every angle. _I_, for example, am severely doubtful whether Phoebe's fourth grade boyfriend will be the one who betrays us and turns Wyatt, but _he_ still got added to the column, and so- I think- the Elders should be added." Stubbornness radiated from every pore, from his flashing green eyes to his jutted chin. "Starting with Gideon!"

Piper gasped and looked outraged as Chris bent down and scrawled Gideon's name largely on one of the columns of the paper they were bent over.

"Ooh, for that, _you're_ going on, mister!" Piper retorted, scrawling Chris' name to a column.

"Piper, do you even _get_ this new Map?" Chris questioned, shaking his head, exasperation splayed on his face.

"Yes, I do!" Piper retorted heatedly, glaring up as fiercely as she could considering Chris towered a good half a foot over her.

"Then _why did you put my name on the list for _ME_ to investigate_?" Chris semi-yelled.

Piper stopped, and stared, her mouth hanging open.

"You'll catch flies," Chris added absent-mindedly as she stood there. Piper made a small grunt of annoyance as she turned to stare at the new "Map" of "friends" they were creating.

"Huh, I _did_ put you on your own column," Piper said, her eyebrows raised. "Jeez."

"I think you've been hanging around your dad too much," Chris said, as he assiduously put more Elder's names on one of the columns, this time in neater handwriting.

Piper's eyes narrowed. "I think that's _your_ fault," she accused. "Why ever did you get the _stupid_ idea of sending my dad around to spy on the Book of Shadows for you?"

"Worked, didn't it?" Chris said.

"Well that's debatable," Piper said, and then she noticed Paige and Phoebe standing in the hallway, giggling at the two of them. "W_haaat_?" Piper asked, dragging out the syllable. "What's so funny?"

"You put Chris on Chris' column!" Paige managed to snort out, collapsing on Phoebe's shoulder, giggling. Phoebe looked amused herself.

Piper slumped grouchily into a chair. "It's obviously _get at Piper_ day," she said airily. "What can you do?" She smiled, and then winced in pain.

"What's wrong?" Chris was instantly at her side, bending down on his knees and looking up at her in concern.

Piper wrinkled her nose at the concern on his face. "Nothing. This baby's just like his brother, is all, aiming his kicks at my kidneys instead of outwards."

Something dark flickered over Chris' face, which the young half-Witch, half-Whitelighter tried to hide. Piper frowned.

"Hey, Halliwell baby, stop being so nasty to your mom."

Piper resisted the sudden urge to giggle, and then realised the baby had stopped hitting her. "Hey, it worked!"

"You doubted it?" Chris pretended to be suave for a second, before a grin flashed across his face before he could stop himself. He then started, as if he realised what he was doing, and forced his face into a more neutral expression.

Coming over as Chris stood up, Paige furrowed her brow. "Why d'you do that?"

Chris blinked, confused. "Do what?"

"Force yourself to stop smiling."

Completely unexpected, the statement hit Chris hard. He looked away, frowning as he contemplated his answer, and then looked back. All three of them were looking at him now. "Smiling isn't something you do often in my future. It's considered... well-" He looked away again awkwardly. "Wyatt outlawed it. He considered it rude. Of course, he could smile, and his minions. But-"

Piper stared at him, screwing up her nose. "I'm having a talk with that youngster as soon as he's old enough."

Chris laughed, and looked over to toddler Wyatt, playing with a soft book. "Wyatt, sometime in the future you might be a very naughty boy and outlaw smiling. Well you're not to do it, you hear me? Else you're grounded!"

"Well, maybe being grounded forever was what turned him," Piper grouched, sliding up in the chair again and trying to get comfortable.

"He outlawed farting, too," Chris offered, a wry twist to the corner of his mouth.

Piper grinned. "That's my boy."

Chris rolled his eyes. "How did the vanquish go, guys?"

"_Girls_," Phoebe interrupted sweetly as he backed away and stood by the new Map again. "I resent the misogynistic prejudice brought on by that overtly masculine generic term."

Chris squinted uncertainly at her.

"Psychology major," Piper said. "What can you do?"

"Get a dictionary," Chris grouched.

"Wouldn't help, would it."

Chris opened his mouth to retort, and then whirled around – hands outstretched – when he recognised the voice.

"Paul!"

"In the flesh," Paul said, walking out from the kitchen, smirking as Paige and Phoebe skidded over to Piper to protect her. "Re_lax_. I'm hardly going to harm my own mother before she gives birth to me. Which, as you may have already guessed, won't happen for some time yet."

"Then why are you here?" Chris flung out bitterly. "Come to deliver another message?"

"Gee, aren't you getting defensive," Paul drawled lazily, leaning against the banister, looking at them huddled together with a small laugh on his face. "Then again, defence was all you were ever good at you. And look where it's got you. Stuck in the past with the _Charmed_ ones. I mean, what a joke!"

"A joke?" Chris' voice rose incredulously. "And look at you, lap-dog for your big brother! And _I'm_ the joke?"

"Ah, yes, big brother…" Paul's gaze drifted over to where toddler Wyatt was watching him. A blue sphere instantly blazed around the golden-haired child. "He sends his regards. He said he rather enjoyed killing Bianca, seeing as she was a traitor, and that you – as a worse traitor – might be even more fun to off."

"More fun to _off_?" Chris laughed. "I think you've been watching too many movies where the British guy is the villain."

"What, from your film collection?" Paul's eyes darkened. "Do not believe I would touch anything of yours without extreme coercion from Wyatt. I would not dare to be so close to a disgusting creature like you."

"If I'm a creature, than Wyatt's a monster," Chris returned evenly.

"Perhaps," Paul conceded. "But Wyatt never left me to die."

Chris' cheeks instantly coloured. "If I'd known you were there-" he snapped out.

"Oh _please_!" Paul scoffed. "You saw the both of us! You were there! He killed your mom and then he went for me! And you went for _her_ and she was already dead! You _knew_ she was already dead!"

"_Paul_-" Chris' eyes went dead. "I couldn't see." He looked wretched. "It was a miracle that I even found her… It was so _dark_… blackness _everywhere_."

"Ridiculous!" Paul scoffed. "It was just you being inept-"

"It was Wyatt, Paul. It was Wyatt who- who killed my mom and went for you." Chris stepped forwards tentatively, truth shining on his face. "You couldn't see either. Remember? It was the blackest it had ever been. He let you hear what you wanted to hear. Easier to believe that _I_ was evil rather than your beloved oldest brother-"

"No!" Paul stepped backwards, jerking his body backwards, outrage on his face. "It was _you_ it was _always_ you!"

Fury on his face, Paul pushed himself forwards and pushed Chris, who staggered backwards and fell against the wall. An audible crack was heard as Paul, anger on his face, orbed out.

From his position, slumped on the floor against the wall, Chris gingerly held his arm and stared into the space that Paul had been.

* * *

"You son of a bitch! You arrogant, pig-headed, son of a _bitch_! Show yourself now! Damn you!" Paul clenched his fist and smashed it into the cliff, and winced as blood started to run freely from the grazes.

Before him, the supervising demon shimmered in, looking at him confusedly.

"Not _you_!" Paul clenched one fist and extended it. Blue fire extended forth from his hand, and the demon screamed as Paul vanquished it. "Damn it! I want _you_ and you know it!"

Glowering, with both fists clenched, Paul exhaled hard as another figure shimmered in. Black eyes peered forth from behind lanky, blond hair.

"Wyatt!" Paul stepped forwards. Wyatt, looking almost bored, gestured with one hand, and Paul jerked to a standstill. His eyes narrowed. "It was _you_, you bastard."

"Of course it was," Wyatt said amicably. "The only way I could have Piper's powers was if Chris truly let the both of you go. To make him think you were dead was the only way."

"So Chris has thought I was _dead_ for the last eight years?" Paul demanded incredulously. "He didn't just _abandon_ me?" Paul shook his head, his dark hair falling around his face. "You son of a _bitch_."

"Aw, now you're insulting mom," Wyatt said, sounding almost amused.

"Look, stop playing silly buggers and get your substantial ass here right _now_!" Paul said. "I'm _tired_ of communication by demon, and by these half-baked projections. I can't deal with the power of three on my own, and I can't turn Chris on my own, and you know it."

Wyatt stared flatly at him. "You're being petulant. You know I hate it when you're petulant."

Paul sighed. "Just come, all right?"

Suspicious, the illusory Wyatt stepped closer to Paul, scanning his youngest brother's face for any sign of duplicity. Finding none, he nodded slowly. "If you can _not_ turn Chris in the next three weeks, then yes-" Wyatt's lips curled. "I will come to the past. But before this extreme measure, there is one more thing I would like you to do."

Paul's eyes narrowed.

"Chris thinks both you and mom died on that day eight years ago," Wyatt said. "You and I know quite the opposite."

Paul's face froze, and he looked at Wyatt incredulously. "You mean-" he said, in shock.

"Yes, Paul," Wyatt said, gloating. "I'm going to release mom out of the stasis I put her in eight years ago. It should be enough to tip Chris over the edge, and we _can_ have the power of three again."

Paul swallowed, almost overwhelmed by the look on his brother's face. _Power corrupts_, a voice from his past whispered into his mind, _and absolute power corrupts absolutely…_

"Yes," Wyatt said, misinterpreting Paul's look, "with the power of three, in _our_ control, nobody will be able to stand in our way!"

**

* * *

**


	11. Chapter the Eleventh

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry" Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

* * *

**Chapter The Eleventh**

**

* * *

**

"Ow! Be careful with that!"

Paige glared at him as she bound up his arm carefully, holding his arm as she tied the sling. "You're lucky it's not broken. That nephew of mine sure has a temper."

"I did sort of provoke him," Chris said quietly, his sea-coloured eyes looking worriedly at Paige. "I guess he would have been touchy about the- the Event. I should have let it go."

She sighed and her eyes scanned his face. "Chris, I have no idea what you've gone through. I'm beginning to get the idea that it's been pretty awful, and that – perhaps – for _everyone_ in the future it's awful. But we're going to stop it from happening."

"Yeah?" Chris questioned briefly, searching her gaze for the truth. Paige swallowed at the intensity of the look.

"Yeah," she replied, but it was quieter than it should have been, and neither could quite believe it.

"You really thought he was dead, didn't you?"

That was from Phoebe, who was alternately looking between the Map, Chris and Paige, and Piper and Wyatt.

Chris froze for a second, and then nodded. "I did. That's why I was so shocked when he turned up."

"You must have been close to him, though," Piper mused, lifting Wyatt into her lap and letting him sleep against her. She mussed Wyatt's set of curls. "When you grow up, young man, you're not to pretend to kill your younger brother, do you hear me? Even if you are evil. It's not evil, it's just _mean_."

Chris stifled a laugh. "Okay. I really have to get out of here. It's too weird."

"Hmm, let me see." Phoebe turned back to the table, where the two Maps were lying side by side. "What job can a half-Whitelighter hiding mysterious secrets about the Halliwell future do with an injury?"

Chris sighed as he shuffled over to look down at the Maps. "Uh-" He frowned, and sat down on one of the chairs, wincing slightly as his arm hit the table. "Nag you guys to go and defeat some demons while I babysit mister anti-farting over there, and do some internet research on your work laptop about some of your ex-boyfriends?"

Piper smothered a smile. "Wish he really _was_ anti-farting at the moment. You're a mister smelly pants, aren't you?" Wyatt just giggled at her, and Piper rolled her eyes. "Ah, trust me to try and make conversation with a two year old," she grouched.

"To be honest, Piper, if you called _anyone_ a smelly pants, I think they'd be a little less likely to wanna talk to you," Paige said with a knowing grin.

Piper threw a look at Paige, which clearly said that if her hands had _not_ been full of baby, she would have flickered some kind of rude gesture at her youngest sister. Paige just smirked, knowing what her sister was thinking all too well.

"So, when do you want me to start nagging?" Chris asked, looking between them all. "You could get the Festri demons, the Ghalish Gnomes _and_ the Shishi Sisters if you go now."

"You're very eager to get us out of the house," Phoebe said suspiciously. Chris threw a dark look at her.

"I'm anxious to get some alone time to feel sorry for myself," Chris retorted with a self-directed wry smirk. Phoebe tossed him a confused glance. "Come on. One of my best friends has returned from the dead, given me a gift that is worth of one of the greatest evil minded people, my arm feels like someone fried it in vinegar and now Piper is calling the boy who in my future grew up and killed people for insulting him _smelly pants_."

"What, is that excess vinegar from the sandwich?" Piper questioned, putting Wyatt back down in his playpen and making a funny face at him.

"Funny," Chris said.

"I'd like to think so," Piper returned sunnily.

* * *

"Hey, Vic, you got some guy to see you."

Victor looked up from his desk, his brow furrowing when he saw his co-worker Jerry. "Who is it?"

"He didn't say." Jerry just shrugged. "I figured it was one of your clients."

Victor frowned. "How old did he look?"

Jerry tossed him an askance look. It read very plainly _I am not your secretary, man_.

Victor sighed. "Tell him to meet me in here," he said, figuring he could yell for Chris if it was a demon or anything. He'd gotten increasingly paranoid about something like that happening, especially when Chris had described the future, and mentioned the possibility of a demon coming back. He really, really hoped it wasn't Paul, though. To be honest, the boy sounded as bad as Wyatt, and he was just relieved that at least _one _of them – and partly from his influence, by the sound of it! – was good.

Jerry had already disappeared, and Victor tapped a pen against the desk as he waited for the visitor. He didn't have to wait long, as the door creaked hesitantly open and a very familiar blond head poked around.

Victor resisted the urge to let out a disproving sigh, or maybe catapult the pen into the man's forehead.

"Is it okay for me to come in?" Leo asked, trying very hard to look Victor straight in the eye.

"Would you listen if I said no?" Victor said, somewhat testily. He knew that he'd probably never be entirely happy with anyone who married one of his daughters, that was part of the whole fatherhood deal, but to be honest Victor had never truly forgiven the deception Leo had played on him at the beginning. When Leo had orbed away, it wasn't just an insult to his already ingrained dislike of Whitelighters, it was an insult from a guy wanting to marry his daughter…

Leo sighed, and closed the door behind him. Crossing over the room, he dropped into the chair facing Victor directly. "I'm sorry you have such a low opinion of me at the moment," he said, his voice low, his eyes staring straight at Victor. "But I need your help."

"You? You need _my_ help?" Victor's hands clenched the desk involuntarily as his voice rose in volume. "Never mind your _family_ that need _your _help-"

"-no one is more regretful of that than me!" Leo said, somewhat heatedly. "I- leaving my two- my two boys, not to mention Piper, is the hardest thing I've ever done! I thought you of all people would understand!"

Hit by the intensity and the truth of Leo's words, Victor sank deeper into his chair. It was true. He, of all people, could understand. "Three," Victor said quietly, the words thick and hard to get out. But Leo deserved to know. "Three. You're going to have three boys."

Leo frowned, as if Victor was speaking a language he didn't know. "Th-three? Did, uh, did Chris tell you that?"

Victor shook his head. "No. Paul turned up all on his own, with a very nasty surprise for Christopher."

Leo's face registered his own confusion.

"Paul?"

Victor resisted the urge to slam more details at the guy, but decided to take pity on him. Leo did rather look like he'd been blindsided by a flying pixie. "Paul. Apparently Chris thought he'd died a while ago, but it's not the case."

"I-" Leo's voice fell away, and he stared not quite at Victor, but somewhere far beyond.

"He's not a nice kid," Victor said flatly. Leo blinked, snapping out of his daze, his brow furrowing. "The nasty surprise I mentioned was a head." Leo's eyes twitched. "The name Bianca mean anything to you?"

Colour instantly flooded out of Leo's face. "Oh god…"

"Exactly," Victor said coolly. "So was there anything particular you wanted from me?"

Leo blinked several times, fast. "Uh-" He shook his head as if to literally shake the daze from his brain. "I was going to ask you if you would care to share Chris' identity. The Elders are still worried about him, and there's been a general murmur of the few who want to send him back to the future. _Not_," he added quickly, "perpetuated by me."

Victor stared at him flatly. "I can't," he said simply. "I can't tell you who Chris is."

Leo looked pained.

"I did make Chris promise to tell you and the girls at some point," Victor said quickly, though. Hope crept into Leo's eyes. "But don't get your hopes up. After the two nice 'messages' that Paul left, I really don't think he's up to the emotional stress."

Leo nodded, his skin still pale.

"You could, uh, come with me after work, though," Victor said. Leo looked confused. "I'm going to have dinner with the girls, and pick Chris up to take him back to my apartment. Maybe you should spend some time with him. I'm sure if you maybe get to hear some of his motivations, the Elders might be quietened with your firsthand experience."

Leo looked undecided.

"I'll call Piper and ask if it's okay first," Victor promised. Leo still looked tense for a further moment, and then nodded. His eyes were still dark with worry, and Victor knew that he was scared about spending too much time with the girls and getting even more attached to them. He felt a warm rush of sympathy for the man which he'd never felt before. Leo _was_ in the same position he'd been in nearly thirty years ago.

"Okay," Leo said, his voice hushed.

"Great," Victor said. "If you don't mind waiting, I can finish this up in an hour or so."

Leo nodded again, looking relieved.

"And hey, don't worry," Victor said. "It'll turn out all right, I'm sure."

As if strengthened by his words, Leo smiled. For the first time, Victor believed the expression and welcomed the emotionally struggling man in front of him as his son-in-law. Victor felt an echoing smile creep onto his face, and he hid it in his paperwork.

* * *

"Ooooh, signal!"

Phoebe and Piper watched in disbelief as Paige waved her cell phone around like a mad woman.

"Well, it is," Paige said grumpily as she hit the speed-dial for home, and, perched on her tiptoes, began to talk into it. "Chris, hi! We're in the underworld! Yeah… Yeah, it _is_ hard to get a signal down here!" Paige edged a glare at her sisters during that comment. "Uh, we got the first two lots, but we forgot the spell to vanquish the Shishi sisters… That's it? And just one of the basic shield potions?... Great!"

Paige hit disconnect with aplomb, sunnily hopping over to her two sisters despite the acrid atmosphere. "See, I told you I could get a signal down here."

"You got the spell?" Piper questioned, a little testily.

Paige put it down to hormones, and didn't rise to it. "Yup." She told them it, twice, so they could memorise it.

"Huh," Phoebe said. "That's _really_ the spell?"

Paige shrugged. "Chris said so. You two ready?"

"As we'll ever be," Piper said, amused. Holding hands, the three walked briskly down the long corridor hewn out of rock, turned a left and found themselves in a large, hollowed out cavern, lined with rocks that glowed like small furnaces. That had been what Chris had told them to look out for.

Immediately, a hissing sound filled the air, and smoke started to pour from the centre of the cavern.

"WHO DARES INFILTRATE OUR PLACE?" A voice boomed out, nearly knocking them over with the tremors it caused in the cavern. They held onto each other for support, watching as four figures materialised out of the smoke. Four almost identical sisters, with navel and cleavage baring outfits, slim curvaceous figures, black hair and sneers on their porcelain faces.

Paige threw the potion at them.

"Shishi sisters on the loose, vanquish now, die now, vamoose!"

The Shishi sisters looked at each other, laughing at the spell. Paige's stomach flopped over and died, but it was very premature, for just at that moment the four sister demons screamed and exploded. When the smoke cleared, the cavern was empty except for the three amused Charmed Ones.

"Hoo yeah, we rule," Phoebe proclaimed happily. "Although that was the _crappiest_ spell written ever."

"Don't blame me," Paige said. "Chris told me it."

"And he'll have got it from our book," Piper said, dryly.

"True," Phoebe said. "Now can we get out of here?"

"She says, when earlier she couldn't wait to stay down here and bask over our success?" Paige questioned.

Phoebe pulled a face, and murmured something. Piper and Paige exchanged a bewildered look.

"What did you just say?" Paige asked.

"I said, I need the toilet!" Phoebe whined, loudly.

It took them a few moments after that for them to orb. It would have been instantaneous, if Paige hadn't bent over double and started laughing hysterically.

* * *

_Ding dong!_

Typing one handed was hard, so Chris was almost pleased by the distraction of the doorbell. Minimising the window just in case it was Darryl or someone who may not be too impressed that he'd hacked into the main state registrar office's database, he headed over to the door and opened it.

Leo and Victor stared back at him.

"Oh! Oh, yeah," Chris said. "Um, the girls will be back soon," he explained as he opened the door and they walked in. He saw them looking at his arm, and pulled a face as he pushed the door shut.

"How did _that_ happen?" Victor asked pointedly.

"Um, uh, our visitor from the other day showed up," Chris started ambiguously.

"Paul?" Victor questioned.

Chris glanced worriedly at Leo.

"He knows," Victor quickly reassured him.

"Um," Chris said, clearly uncomfortable with that fact, "he kind of showed up, started an argument, and pushed me into the wall. It's just a sprain," he added quickly.

"Sprains can last a while," Leo said quietly, moving his hands forward and healing Chris. Startled, Chris looked at him and stuttered his thanks. "No problem." Leo distractedly moved over to the table, looking down at the new Map. His eyes narrowed as he glanced at the Map. "You've put Elders on here?"

Chris shrugged. "I've put _everyone_ on there, man," he said, clearly upset that those were the first words out of Leo's mouth. "You may even notice my own presence on my _own_ column, thanks to Piper."

To Chris' complete surprise, Leo chuckled a little. "Heh. Where did you say the girls were?"

"I didn't," Chris said, which earned him a quiet glare from both Victor and Leo. "They're vanquishing some demons. They'll be back soon."

Leo opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the three girls orbing into the room.

"We got them!" Piper announced cheerfully to Chris, before glancing suspiciously at Leo. "Uh, what are you doing here?"

"Oh," Leo said, a little startled. "Um, there's some disquiet Up There… Some Elders are worried about Chris, worried about who he is. Uh, Victor suggested that I, uh, spend some time with him, and hopefully that may reassure the Elders a little."

"Okiedoke," Piper said, with a twitch of her eyebrows that plainly said to all present that the Elders confused her and annoyed the hell out of her and that she was just going to deal now with whatever they were going to throw at her without getting too upset about it. "You're going to stay for dinner, then?"

"If it's okay," Leo said, his voice showing pleased surprise. "I'd love to. I-" And again, he was interrupted, but by something he'd felt. That they'd all felt. A small tremor, wending its way through the house, through them.

"What is that?" Victor asked quickly, pointing at the air in front of the door. Instinctively they all moved backwards.

A small silvery gash had appeared out of nowhere, splitting the air in two.

"It's a portal," Leo said with a gasp, his eyes wide. "Not one of ours."

"Not one of yours?" Phoebe said, her eyes trained fearfully on the portal as she unconsciously moved to shield Piper with her body. "So we're not going to get sucked into the past again?"

"It looks like a one-way portal," Chris said quietly. "Something's coming here. Or some_one_." The fear etched into his face told Victor clearly that Chris was frightened that it was Wyatt who was about to come through. Future Wyatt. Evil Wyatt.

They couldn't say much more, as the portal opened, in a shimmering display of crimsons, looking like an energy charged rose unfurling there in the middle of the hallway. Seemingly out of nowhere, a strong wind started up, swirling around them as they stared in horror at the portal.

The wind whipped up to a frequency that whistled in their eyes, and moments later the portal had shimmered out of existence, leaving a figure sprawled on the ground. A feminine figure.

All they could see of her was a mass of short dark brown hair. There was a deep gash in the cream coloured top she wore, with blood running freely from it. Hissing under his breath, Leo quickly knelt down, getting blood on his robes but just not caring. Holding his hands up, he healed the newcomer with ease. Piper, Paige, and Phoebe exchanged a glance, and then looked to Chris to see what he thought of the unexpected arrival.

Chris was looking even more pole-axed than any of them. His face had paled to a shade of white that rivalled the fluffy marshmallow clouds floating in the cerulean sky outside.

The glow from Leo's hand faded as the wound healed, the recipient obviously not a demon from this act. Cautiously Leo helped turn the woman over as she coughed and spluttered a little, and Piper realised just exactly why Chris looked so pale.

The woman who had tumbled out of the portal, with the stab wound running right through her, that Leo had just healed… was Piper.

**

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**


	12. Chapter the Twelfth

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry" Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

* * *

**Chapter The Twelfth

* * *

**

"W-wait a second," Piper said, her own voice sounding suddenly alien to her. "That's-"

"You're right," this other-Piper said, amusement colouring her wearied and more line ridden face. "I'm a future you." She turned to Leo, gratefully. "Thank you, Leo." Her voice held a tone of distance, which visibly shocked Leo, who looked saddened at the lack of warmth in her voice.

Other-Piper got to her feet, dusting her trousers off as she did so. "Although _how_ future is a little bit beyond me." She looked around, peering at each of the sisters in turn. "Phoebe's in her short hair period…" Other-Piper wrinkled her nose as Phoebe edged an uncertain look at Piper. As she did so, she saw Chris, and his reaction puzzled her. He was shaking, literally shaking.

Other-Piper squinted a bit at Paige, and then at her obviously past self. "Hmm, baby two?" Other-Piper eventually asked, looking a little dubious as to whether she should actually ask that.

Piper nodded dully in surprise at seeing herself- her future self. Apart from a few lines on her face and, obviously, sans the bump, the only thing that really distinguished them was Other-Piper's hair cut – a severe bob that ended above her neck. It looked weird, but Piper was relieved to know one day that cut _would_ suit her.

"But you-" Other-Piper was staring vaguely at Chris, her brow furrowed. "I don't remember you…"

"Ahah! I knew we wouldn't really know you in the future!" Paige crowed, smirking at Chris a little, expecting him to at least sneer a little bit back at her. He didn't; preferring instead to look at Other-Piper as if he couldn't quite believe she was there.

"I knew you weren't dead," Chris whispered, and it was then that they realised his eyes were shining more brightly than they had since they'd known him. He was staring at Other-Piper as if she was the only thing that mattered a damn to him in the world. "I knew it."

Other-Piper studied him with a confused look for a second, before recognition flooded her older features. Her mouth snapped open, and she stepped forwards, pushing past Leo.

"_Chris_?"

Piper watched in complete surprise as Other-Piper nearly launched herself at Chris, gathering him at elbow's length, staring up at him in disbelief and with a look of joyous pain on her face. "Chris-" Other-Piper said again.

Chris looked absolutely torn as he lifted up one hand, touched Other-Piper's cheek with two fingers. "Sshh. They don't know who I am." He edged a look at the girls, who were looking back at him like he'd just told them _up_ really was _down_. "I just-" His voice cracked. "I missed you so _much_…"

"Oh, baby…" Other-Piper breathed. "You- I've been gone so long?" Her eyes searched his face, and found truth. Her face fell further into despair. "What about-" And she spoke the name with fear. "…Wyatt?"

Chris stepped back, as if being in Other-Piper's semi-embrace was too painful. "That's why I'm here. To stop whatever turns him."

Suddenly his persona had changed from being overwhelmed by emotion to brisk and emotionless. "Okay, there has to be a reason you're here. What's the last thing you remember?"

Other-Piper blinked, startled at the sudden edge in Chris' tone. "You, crying my name, and Wyatt-" She shuddered once, violently.

"Right." Chris' eyes darkened. "Wyatt must have held you in some form of stasis. Why, I'm not sure right now. Unless he's been tapping your power as you've been in stasis, but why would you be released now?" He was obviously thinking out loud. "Perhaps it's Paul's appearance in the past. With the strongest concentration of Halliwell blood being in this present time, perhaps that's why you arrived here. Unless he sent you here deliberately- but I have no idea why that would be beneficial to him…"

"Maybe it was unintentional," Other-Piper suggested, a haunted look in her older eyes.

"Look, Piper- future Piper- ugh, this is why time travel is evil and should not be allowed," Phoebe said with a grimace. "Uh, what _should_ we call you? Can't go around calling you Piper, 'cause that's just weird and, you know, confusing."

Other-Piper still looked a little shell-shocked as she tried to take everything in. She was obviously having trouble coping with the fact that Chris had thought she was dead. Actually, most of them observed, she was having trouble with coping that Chris was so obviously different to her.

"Pippa," Chris suggested suddenly, an inexplicable grin tugging momentarily on his face. "We should call you Pippa." Now there was an unmistakable note of teasing in his voice, despite the obvious pain and look of anguished longing on his face.

Other-Piper rolled her eyes a little, her gaze remaining trained on Chris as a smirk nevertheless crossed her face. She opened her mouth to protest, and then set it firmly in a line that almost immediately convinced the others of her authenticity. That was a genuine Piper expression, if nothing else. "All right," she ground out. "Pippa it is."

Chris held back a laugh, and then did start to laugh, holding his stomach as he started to laugh hysterically. 'Pippa' starred at him in shock for a second, before her mouth twitched and she started to laugh too. Soon, Victor, Leo, Piper, Paige and Phoebe were just left to stare confusedly as the two howled in laughter.

"You-" Chris managed to gasp out between laughs, "you're alive, hahahahaha, and you're really, haha, here!" He collapsed in more helpless laughter.

Pippa snorted back at him, giggling. "What," amongst helpless giggles, "happened to your arm?"

"Oh, this?" Chris tried to stop laughing, and started again. He started to pull off his bandage. "Oh, hahahah, Paul pushed me, haha. Leo he- hehehe- healed me."

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Victor demanded, looking edgily between them, his face reminding the others of a startled horse about to bolt. The fact that there were _two_ Pipers was clearly pushing him close to the edge of the brink.

"Shock," Paige said quietly, her gaze hovering between the two people from the future, currently howling with laughter, Chris so bad that he was now on the floor, laughing into his knees. "Future Piper – _Pippa_ – she'll have just thought Wyatt had almost killed her. Her firstborn child. And Chris- Chris obviously thought she was dead, too."

"And we're obviously a lot closer in the future," Piper mused, her eyes still flickering over her future self with a hint of panic on her face.

"Come on, now." Victor bent to his knees, putting his hand on Chris' arm. Chris laughed a bit more, hiccoughed, and looked up at his granddad, his face pallid with shock. As if Victor had snapped Chris back to reality, his face flung towards Pippa, and he started struggling to his feet.

He pushed past Victor and Leo quickly, pelting to the door, but Leo quickly moved and put his hand on the door so he couldn't get out.

Chris stared at him, like a rabbit trapped in headlights. He looked around to see Pippa, who had also stopped laughing.

"Chris-" Leo said.

"No…" It came out as a hoarse whisper, and he shook his head violently, his hair falling like a curtain onto his face. "I can't. Please, don't make me, I can't."

"Chris-" Pippa started, her face twisted with an expression that was hard to place. She was in pain, and shock, and completely feeling displaced, and incapable of comprehending the huge consequences of what had happened.

"Please…" Chris whispered, and Leo, understanding washing onto his face if nothing else, stepped back.

"Chris, don't leave! We have to figure this out-" Pippa started.

Chris held up one hand bitterly. "Don't. You could have gotten out of there, but you didn't. You could have listened to me, but it was easier to think _I_ was crazy than your precious firstborn child was evil!" His voice rose with his temper. "How were we supposed to cope without you, huh? How? You _left_ us alone. You _left_ us." His hand stilled on the handle. "You left_ me_."

The words rang into the stunned silence. He shook his head, in complete and still mounting disbelief, before turning on his heel and leaving the house. Even though he was several steps away, the door slammed, hard.

"Elvis has _left_ the building," Paige commented. The others just rolled their eyes at her, and shook their heads, uncertain of what to say.

* * *

"Chris! Hey! Wait up!" 

Paige narrowed her eyes as Chris continued stomping away. He was nothing if not determined…

Casting about quickly to make sure no one was watching, Paige quickly orbed and landed on the pavement in front of Chris.

Chris sighed, and managed to stop just in time before he ploughed straight into her.

"You are going to turn around and get your half-whitelighter ass back into that manor, or so help me, I'll-" Paige started.

"You'll what?" Chris challenged.

Paige was struck by the sheer amount of pain radiating from those sea-green eyes, and she was so stunned that for a moment she let him walk away from her.

"Dammit!" Running, she caught up and started stomping along at the same pace as him. Chris, although clearly knowing she was there, resolutely stared forwards obdurately as they power-walked along faceless streets.

"All right, so there's not much I can do," Paige said. "I can pummel out of Victor who you are, and then go tell your mom to ground you for for_ever_ for being so melodramatic!"

"My mom. Huh." Chris' voice was laced with some sort of sarcasm that Paige could not decipher.

"Chris, Future Piper – Pippa – oh, god, I'm confused. Why is she called Pippa now?" Paige asked.

"Oh, that…" He continued walking, but a grin flashed across his face for a second. "When Wyatt went to school, and learned the alphabet, he- well – didn't quite learn it properly. When he was nine he got a glimpse of his birth certificate, and, um, couldn't quite read Piper right. He was right stroppy for ages, thinking he had a different mom- man, you should have seen his face when Piper told him that's how her name was spelt, and he wasn't the offspring of the fifth Halliwell sister…"

"You know, when you said that time about knowing Piper a long time, and that she would never rise to bait that quickly, you really meant it, didn't you? You really have known us a long time," Paige said, her eyes widening.

Chris stopped, and looked down at her. "I- I guess so."

"You guess so? You either do or you don't!" Paige demanded, hands on her hips.

"I can't tell you," Chris said, suddenly miserable. "I shouldn't have said what I did…"

He looked so saddened, that Paige felt a wave of sympathy for him, and she touched his shoulder gently. She was surprised when he stepped closer, and she pulled him into a hug, the gesture feeling right. She patted his back, and was surprised when it didn't feel awkward.

He pulled back after a minute, his cheeks red, and he looked embarrassed. "Let's not mention that, eh?" Paige suggested briefly, a smile on her face nonetheless. She was pleased that she'd been able to offer the tortured young half-Whitelighter a little. For a moment, she had recognised herself in him, that feeling of sheer displacement when your whole world disappears from beneath you… "You going to come on home?"

She saw the way the colour of his eyes changed when she mentioned the word _home_, and decided to file it away for future reference. He nodded hesitantly, and, sticking his hands in his pockets, they started to walk back to the manor, together.

* * *

Paul smirked as he rounded the corner. "Yes, he _did_ always have an affinity with Aunt Paige," he said, slowly. The image of Wyatt before him nodded. 

"Yes, better than either of us," Wyatt said slowly. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think so, Wy," Paul said, in a passable Pinky impression, "but I don't think pink's your colour."

Wyatt ignored his brother's flippancy. "No, you idiot," he said, in perfect evil overlord swagger, "Paige. Let's get her out of the way." His eyes darkened, and Paul resisted the urge to swallow. "For good."

* * *


	13. Chapter the Thirteenth

**Neurotic

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**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry" Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

* * *

Author's Note: This ending scene of this chapter is the original scene that got stuck in my head – the one that made me want to tell this story! I. Love. It. So. Much!

* * *

**Chapter The Thirteenth**

**

* * *

**

"I really can't believe it's you."

Chris looked at his knees, rather than look at his mother. He twisted his head hesitantly to look at her, and then shied his gaze away. He'd dreamed this a thousand times, and each time woke up hating himself.

"Me either," he admitted to the carpet.

A silence occupied the living room that the girls had kindly vacated to give them some time to "catch up" as Pippa had put it.

"How long has it been?"

Chris squeezed his eyes shut, and let them stay that way. "Eight years," he said, his voice catching. "I got engaged, you know."

"Oh?" Pippa's voice caught as she said that, drawing the syllable out uncomfortably. "Uh, what was her name?"

"Bianca," Chris said, the name paining him.

"Bia- not-" Pippa's eyes rounded. "The daughter of that Phoenix witch we vanquished."

Still with his eyes closed, Chris nodded and smiled. It was not a happy smile. "Yup."

Pippa's mouth worked silently. The internal struggle she was going through blazed on her face and died. She obviously didn't want to push her son away after only just finding him. Especially after not knowing he was lost. _Eight years!_ her heart cried. _What happened to my happy, smiling boy to make him this bitter at the world?_

"She was good," Chris said, his eyes opening now but fixating on some random detail of the fireplace. "You'd have been proud of how hard she fought for us."

Pippa nodded slowly, looking at his downcast face and seeing his pain clearly. "Past tense?" She whispered.

Chris said nothing, just inhaled and then exhaled, and then shrugged.

"I'm sorry," Pippa breathed, looking at him hard.

"Why?" Chris asked plainly, turning to her, shaking his head slightly. "You didn't even know you were gone."

"I _know_," Pippa said wretchedly. She lifted one hand to touch Chris' cheek, completely amazed as her hand fell away. "I just can't- I can't-" She closed her eyes this time, and her hair fell like a dense curtain against her face.

Chris, with the gentlest expression any of them had ever seen, put one of his hands under her chin and lifted it up. Tears were running down her face and he wiped them away with the pad of his thumb. "Hey," he said softly. "It's going to be all right. We're going to change this."

Pippa nodded tearfully. Her slight form trembled as the conflicting emotions of the last hour washed over her, and he pulled his mother to him. She instantly burrowed her head in his neck. "I love you," she whispered. "I love you so much."

Chris smiled, a tight lost smile, and pulled her closer. He put his head on her shoulder, and whispered, "I love you too."

* * *

"Oh, my god." Phoebe quietly and carefully replaced the grate in the kitchen. She got to her feet, looking between Paige and Phoebe. Leo's jaw was clenched, and Victor was very carefully looking out of the window so as to not say anything that would reveal Chris' secret.

"I guess I do like him in the future then," a surprised Piper quipped lightly, resting against one of the stools and looking a little confused. "Maybe I lose my mind?"

"I said we shouldn't have listened in," Paige grouched.

"You could have physically stopped me," Phoebe said, twitching her nose at Paige. Paige twitched her nose back, and fell silent.

"But, he said I'd been- uh- _gone_ eight years," Piper said. "Wouldn't that put Chris-"

"-in his high school years?" Paige said. "Yup, miss cradle robber, it would indeed."

"Unless he's older than he looks," Phoebe offered.

Piper pulled a face. "P_lease_. I just- I really can't see _it_ ever happening." She glanced over in the direction of the living room. "It's just- Me and Chris? Ewwwww!"

"Seconded," an amused voice said. They looked up to see Chris standing there, leaning against the doorpost and shaking his head. They all looked at him guiltily. "You all finished eavesdropping now?"

"Yeahhh," Phoebe said, with the embarrassment of being caught out.

"Okay, wait up a second; you're saying the thought of being with me is _ewwwww_ as well?" Piper demanded, suddenly realising the implications of what he just said.

Chris blanched quietly. "Uh- okay. Let's put this aside for a second. One day you will realise just exactly why it's disgusting, and then I will laugh at your expression hysterically."

"You could tell them now," Victor said, in a quiet sing-song.

Chris shot a death glare at his grandfather. "I could _not_," he said.

Victor folded his arms sternly.

"You promised you would," he said.

Chris shrugged. "I lied. It's not the first time and won't be the last. There's too much as could be ruined if they knew what would happen now."

"He's right." Pippa's voice came in tiredly, and she joined them in the kitchen, throwing an amused glance at Chris. "If I told you what _I _know of the future, it would be dangerous, and Christopher's seen a whole lot more of it."

"You see, there's that Christopher thing again," Paige grouched.

"Well _I_ can see why he prefers Chris," Phoebe said. "I've never been too fond of _Christopher_."

"It was my father's name," Leo protested.

Phoebe blanched, and when Chris and Pippa _and_ Victor all started to laugh hysterically, they thought it was from Phoebe's expression.

* * *

"You're sure you don't mind sleeping on the couch?" Piper looked doubtfully at it, even arranged as it was with sheets and pillows. "You can have the bed, I don't mind."

"Are you kidding?" Pippa grinned. "I'm so not going to kick my pregnant self out of my own bed-" She grimaced. "You know, if someone told me I was going to be saying things like this when I turned forty-five, I'd have smacked them."

"Forty-five?" Piper's eyes widened. "Wow."

Pippa shrugged. "There's no guarantees things will turn out the same," she said. "With Chris here in this timeline, I hope things _will_ change."

Piper looked at her future self shrewdly as Pippa sat down on the couch-turned-bed. She took one of the armchairs opposite, resting her hands gingerly on her distended belly. "I guess I- _do_ get close to Chris in the future?"

Pippa edged a look at Piper. "Yes. And much sooner than you'd think."

Piper watched the playful smile playing on her older counterpart. "Huh."

"Seriously, don't worry about me sleeping on this couch. The only other option would be kicking Chris off dad's couch, and I _really_ don't want to have that close an acquaintance with Lumpy."

"Lumpy?"

Pippa nodded wryly. "You haven't been to dad's new apartment yet, have you?"

Piper shook her head. "No. He's been coming over here a lot since he moved in, to get glimpses of the Book of Shadows for Chris."

Pippa looked at Piper confusedly. "What do you mean?"

"Oh," Piper said, shaking one hand. "Uh, we had a slight misunderstanding with Chris, and, um, sort of kicked him out."

Pippa's eyes widened. "You didn't? Of all the stupid-"

"Hey, _he_ was the one who brought a demon near Wyatt!" Piper snapped. "You would have done the same thing!"

"A demon?" Pippa asked, quietly.

"Apparently just to scan for evil," Piper said. "But put yourself in my position. You may know who he is, but we- we didn't. Don't. So unless you'd care to enlighten us—"

"No," Pippa said, shaking her head. "If Chris doesn't want you to know, then there'll be a damn good reason for it."

"I know," Piper said. "It's still hard, though. I mean, every time any of _us_ have gone to the past, we've ended up spilling the truth in under twenty-four hours. Chris has been here nearly a year."

"God…" Pippa's face lightened several shades of pale. "I didn't know."

Piper took in the look of near anguish on her counterpart's face, and refused to acknowledge it too deeply. "He's let some things slip. Like, he's friends with- Paul?"

"You know about Paul?" The question came out hard, and then her face softened. "How- how is he? Have you- is he in the past too?"

"We got a visit from him. Two, actually. One was him barging in with a whole _yeah, I'm your third son_ deal, and he- um- brought something with him…" Piper trailed off, the memory sickening her.

"What?"

"What was left of Bianca after Wyatt had finished with her, apparently," Piper said. Pippa looked like she was going to be sick.

"Oh, god…" Pippa looked off into the distance. "Both Wyatt and Paul gone… I guess I really did fail as a mom…"

"Well, Chris very forcefully said no when I tried to say something to that effect," Piper said. "And I'm beginning to think I should listen to what he says. He's had so many shocks. Apparently he thought Paul was dead, too. And, um, we know Wyatt killed Chris' mom, too."

"Right," Pippa said, nodding, the facts clearly overwhelming her. "Um, did anything happen in the second visit?"

"Wha- oh, from Paul…" Piper shrugged. "He just started a fight with Chris."

"Oh, yeah, that'll do it," Pippa said.

Piper looked at her, confused.

"Chris is very good at keeping secrets," Pippa said. "I should know. But- if you get him mad- that's when he sometimes accidentally lets things out. I'm guessing Paul provoked him to try and get Chris to let slip who he is, and get him in trouble."

"Thanks for the hint," Piper said wryly. She actually grinned when Pippa shot her a warning look. "All right. I won't push him. But put yourself in my position, you'd be just as curious."

The two women laughed, and continued to talk softly.

"Chris, can I have a word with you? Somewhere private?"

Leo looked at the young half-Whitelighter, a serious look on his face.

Phoebe and Paige exchanged a glance and slid off their stools. "We'll, um, go see Piper and Piper," Paige said, as she and Phoebe quickly left the room. Leo edged a look at Victor, who shook his head.

"You can say anything in front of him," Chris said quickly. "I don't mind."

Leo looked torn for a second, and then nodded. He brought up one hand, and a small blue forcefield shuddered into life around the kitchen. Victor's eyes widened.

"It's a silence barrier," Chris said, looking at Victor as if to reassure him. "It's a normal Whitelighter power."

"Silence- so the girls can't eavesdrop?" Victor said. Leo nodded, folding his arms across his chest.

"I want you to tell me exactly who you are," Leo said, his eyes fierce.

"Hell not!" Chris returned, mimicking Leo's gesture. They both took a step towards each other, glaring.

"No? For some _future_ reason, yeah?" Leo's eyes glittered angrily. "I'm beginning to agree with what I thought first about you! You're scheming so you can have the future your _own_ way."

"I've never disagreed with that," Chris said lightly. "But-"

"-you want me out of the way, and it's plain why, now. Piper. You've wanted me out of the way so you can have her all to yourself-"

"-and why shouldn't I?" Chris demanded. "You never looked after her properly!"

"At least I'm not psychotic!"

"God, you're so full of yourself!" Chris retorted angrily. "You're right, I have _some_ psychological complexes – but need I remind you why? Because of _your_ firstborn son! Going full-on evil and destroying the world!" Chris inhaled sharply, glowering darkly at Leo. They were so close now that Victor was contemplating getting a hose out and watering them down. Anger was palpable between the two.

"Yeah, and should I believe that?"

"You damn well should! Your ex-wife is _in_ there, having narrowly escaped death by his hand!" Chris yelled.

"And you're so concerned about her," Leo snapped back. "That's why you want me out of the way so you can muscle in with her _now_, maybe save some lost time, I'll tell you now, your neurotic plans won't-"

"Me? Neurotic?" Chris' eyes were wide as he roared at Leo in complete disbelief. "I'll tell you, Leo Wyatt, that I _may_ have many psychological complexes, but an oedipal complex is NOT ONE OF THEM!"

**

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	14. Chapter the Fourteenth

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry" Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

* * *

**Chapter The Fourteenth**

**

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**

"_I'll tell you, Leo Wyatt, that I may have many psychological complexes, but an oedipal complex is NOT ONE OF THEM!"_

The words hung uncomfortably in the air. Words spoken like that can not be taken back, and that fact struck Chris heavily. The air, charged as it had been with an electricity brought forth of sheer anger, suddenly felt thick and cloying, like a heavy blanket trying to swamp them.

Leo's mouth moved uselessly, as if he was trying to breathe and couldn't find any air.

Finally, he managed two words, "Oedipal complex?"

The two words Chris managed weren't much better. "Oh, shit."

They were staring, and it was as if their gridlocked gaze would never break. For a few startled moments that felt like hours, they were locked as if made of stone.

"You're- you're my second son." Leo breathed the words out like they were a prayer. Chris blinked once, blinked again, and then shook his head as if to shake away the stupor they'd found themselves in.

"Uh-" Chris managed eloquently. He was startled by Leo's expression; the Elder's eyes were widened and he looked to be on the verge of tears. But not tears of pain, tears of wonder. It had been a long time since Chris had seen that expression on anybody, least of all his father. He looked down at his own shoes. Wow, they _were_ scruffy… _Why are you thinking of your shoes when he's stood there, staring like that at you!_ Anger bit into him, a life's worth of resentment gnawing at his damaged soul. "Biologically speaking, yes."

The words hit Leo almost as if he'd been slapped. His mouth fell open, but no words fell forth.

"No Elders in my time," Chris said simply. His eyes were cold, and Leo swallowed at the hardness in them – the lifetime of pain and sorrow and _fighting always fighting for nothing, but you keep going, have to keep fighting_ smacking him in the gut, leaving him winded and sad.

"I-" Leo tried to force words out, but they got caught up in his throat. He swallowed, and tried again. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Chris looked at him as if he had gone completely crazy. "Right. The few times in my life I saw you, in the remotest context as a father, you lectured me on _keeping the timeline pure_, if I ever found myself in a situation where I was out of my time." He looked away, lost, chewing at his lower lip.

Leo studied the turned-away face, and saw Piper's gentleness in the arch of his eyebrows, the curves of his cheekbones, and he alternated between marvelling that he hadn't seen it before, and hating himself that he had not. Facts churned in his belly, raising bile in his throat, and he stumbled backwards, falling and landing on a stool by chance rather than design.

"I'm sorry," Chris said. "I know it must come as a horrible shock." Chris was still looking away now, but his arms were across his chest now. A defensive position.

"God, no!" Leo blurted. "I'm proud of you."

Chris whirled on his heel, staring at Leo in disbelief. Hatred shone across his face, blazing and open. "How? You don't even know who I _am_," he said simply. He turned again, and stormed out of the kitchen, waving his hand almost arbitrarily and dispelling the barrier as he walked out.

Leo stared uncomprehendingly at the doorway as the barrier shuddered automatically back into place. Muted by the intensity of everything he had just discovered, (_his own worst fears come to life, and yet, joyous too_) he simply stared, lost.

It took Victor to break the unnatural silence.

"Uh, oedipal complex?" Victor questioned briefly.

Leo turned to him slowly, but Victor had the distinct impression that the lights were on, but nobody was home. Although he had often had this opinion about Leo, this was the first time he could really apply it properly. "It's, uh, a term Sigmund Freud coined, about – uh – the predilection of a child to love one parent, usually the mother, in a sexual manner, and to develop a hatred of the other parent. Based from the Greek myth of Oedipus, who married his mother and murdered his father."

"I thought it was something along those lines," Victor said, with the expression of someone who is pretending to know more than they know.

"Right," Leo said slowly. "You knew who he was."

"Yes, I did," Victor said. He walked across the room and took the seat opposite Leo. "You know, it was one of the most damned bravest thing I've ever seen anyone do. He came to me, with no reference apart from the girls' suspicion, and- actually, it was quite funny."

Leo frowned at the small smile that quirked onto Victor's face. "How so?"

"Oh," said Victor. "I jumped to the same wrong conclusion that you did." He smirked a little. "Christopher told me Piper was pregnant with him, and I –of course- jumped to the conclusion that she was pregnant _by_ him."

Leo's mouth twitched, and then he forced it to still, and then it twitched again before developing into an actual laugh. "Heh, so maybe he_ does_ have an oedipal complex."

"Not funny, I don't think that's funny," Victor said quickly, even while he smiled.

"It's not funny," Leo suddenly whispered, the sound course and resounding with a melancholy that touched Victor's heart. Suddenly they were on the same wavelength again – they were both fathers separated forcibly from their children.

Pain stilled their lips.

"Did you know he was head of the resistance against Wyatt?" Leo blurted out.

Victor looked at him, surprised. "No."

Leo looked down at the counter-top, a troubled expression playing on his face. "I pushed Chris for details about my second son… and he didn't even falter! He just lied away like- like he's been doing it his whole life…" He fell quiet again. _I lied. It's not the first time and won't be the last._ Chris' earlier words haunted him. "What kind of life has he been living to have to be this way?"

"The kind of life that we are going to prevent from happening to anyone. We're going to find who turns Wyatt, and we're going to stop them," Victor said simply.

"That easy, huh?" Leo said, his voice burning with self-loathing.

"That easy," Victor agreed, his voice light, but his eyes betraying the truth that really, he wasn't so sure.

"Hey, are you all right?" Phoebe asked, concerned. She felt a small wave of pain coming from one of them, and it troubled her.

Leo and Victor had finally come out of the kitchen. Victor had extracted a promise from Leo to let Chris tell the girls when he felt it necessary. Leo had readily agreed, not wanting to alienate Chris even further.

"Chris stomped past a few minutes ago with a face like a thunderstorm," Paige added, looking worriedly up at them. "What happened?"

"I got him mad," Leo said weakly.

"So you found out who he was?" Piper asked quickly.

Leo gaped. "How did you-"

"You did?" Piper said, her mouth falling open. "So who is he?"

Pippa rolled her eyes a little, but stayed tentatively on the end of the couch anyway. If Leo were about to spill who Chris was, then she was ready to fight him to stop him from doing it, if necessary. If Chris had wanted them to know, they would have known already.

"I can't tell you," Leo said weakly, looking strung out. "I promised."

"Great! Fan-frigging-tastic," Piper grouched, a wince crossing her face as her baby kicked at her. She looked down at her distended belly, and then dubiously across at Pippa. "Did your second baby kick you when you cussed?"

"Oh, yeah," Pippa said, a sad smile on her face. "A real Mr. Manners."

"Anyway, I- have to go," Leo said, looking pained. He looked away as he orbed. Piper looked down as he disappeared, the pain of his departure again constricting in her throat.

"Does this pain ever stop?" Piper asked her counterpart quietly.

The smile that crossed Pippa's face was a cacophony of emotion, of regret, pain, anguish, suffering, happiness, misery, and an absolute longing for something she would never have. "No," Pippa admitted, honestly. "But there are some things that make up for it. Make it better."

"God, I hope so…" Piper said.

* * *

"…_Yo! ho, how we go!  
Oh! how the winds blow!  
"White Wings" they never grow weary,  
They carry me cheerily over the sea.  
Night comes, I long for my dearie,  
I'll spread out my "White Wings"  
And sail home to thee…"_

The song floated easily out on the air. The sea crashed against the shore, and the sun sparkled down on the idyllic if abandoned scene.

Moments later, a dark figure orbed onto the scene, his arms folded over his chest. Paul looked around at the scene, scowling, as the last notes of the song, summoning him, faded away.

Before him, an image of Wyatt materialised. "Yo, ho. How _do_ we go?"

Paul turned away, angrily, staring out to the sea. "Mom used to sing us that song."

"Mom _used_ to do a lot of things," Wyatt replied airily. "How's the Paige situation going?"

"It _isn't_," Paul snapped back. "If you'd forgotten, I'm still pissed at you."

"My, my. How your language has deteriorated in this time zone," Wyatt said, smirking at his youngest brother.

Paul turned back to him, glaring. "I'll deal with Paige in my own time. It's not like she's going anywhere."

"I really am proud of that backbone you've developed. Besides, that can wait. I have a different plan." Wyatt's eyes, despite being an illusion, were dark and black and altogether unremorseful.

"Oh? What is it? Pull Chris' hair and wait for him to snap?" Paul mocked. "No, wait, I'll start a tickling match with him. You know he's got that sensitive bit under his left ribs…"

"Paul Daniel Halliwell, your impetuousness is _not_ cute," Wyatt ground out. "Now, listen, or you know what I can do-"

"Yes, yes," Paul said, making a show of idly checking his fingernails and assuming a bored expression. "Big bad Wyatt will strike again."

Wyatt's upper lip curled. "I want you to visit Yenene."

Paul stared at him a little. "Why?"

"Because once upon a time, she was the mentor for the Seer – a personal friend of our dear ex-Uncle Cole," Wyatt said.

Paul stared at him, confused. "What's that got to do with-"

"Patience, my dear fellow." Wyatt sounded extremely amused. Paul's insides coiled – when Wyatt sounded amused, hell inevitably followed. "She taught the Seer the greatest poison of them all. A black potion, which, when ingested, enhances the thirst for power inside someone."

"The potion the Seer made Aunt Phoebe drink?" Paul stared at Wyatt, doom advancing upon him like a stalker he could not shake. "And what- what do you want me to do with this potion, once I – presumably – get her to make me some?"

Wyatt laughed. "Why, give it to Piper."

"Why?"

"Because the potion, once ingested, will affect not just her, but her unborn child…"

**

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	15. Chapter the Fifteenth

**Neurotic

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**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

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**Chapter The Fifteenth

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**

"Right, so what's on my list of things to do today." Paige leant full across the table, leaning her head on her hands, using her elbows to drag the Maps closer to her. She peered at the columns for a while. "Hmmm, two demon vanquishes - power of three - for later. Brewin' a potion, and callin' some exes."

Instead of moving straight back, Paige slumped on the table, and pretended to sleep.

"Paige," Chris warned, shaking his head at her.

"Wh_aaa_t," Paige grouched, getting up and smoothing down her rumpled shorts. "I quit my temp jobs to get this done as fast as possible, and that sucked, so I think _I _am deserving of a period-free of Chris-nagging."

"Chris-nagging," Chris repeated, in disbelief. "You know what, I'll start on the beginning of the potion, you start dialling, and I'll call you once it comes to the tricky part."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Yes, master."

Chris' eyes darkened for a second, and he looked at her with a look of real anguish that Paige found herself wanting to apologise. "No one will ever be your master, Paige. As your Whitelighter, I'm your guardian, advisor, but not _ever_ a dictator."

With that said, he casually picked up the piece of paper with the potion recipe scrawled neatly on, and turned on his heel to head upstairs to the attic.

Paige gaped at him. "But I-" Her voice fell away as he disappeared upstairs. Still feeling wound up by the _trapped_ feeling she still had, staying at home and not working, she despised herself for a second. This was for the _greater good_, for her baby nephew. All of her baby nephews, come to think on it.

A few weeks discomfort for a happy future was definitely worth a couple of relaxed moments and then hell on earth.

Fuelling herself with that thought, she took up the list of numbers she was due to call that day (a _lot_, between Phoebe and Piper and Prue they'd probably dated half of San Francisco - the male half) and bounced into the kitchen with a cheery smile.

The sight made her laugh. Piper and Pippa were cooking and cleaning, alternating between each while cooing over baby Wyatt. She paused, hanging off the doorway, unconciously mimicking Chris' position yesterday when he had eavesdropped on them speculating in the kitchen about who he was.

Even though Chris had protested there was nothing between him and Piper like that, there had still been the _I love you_ they'd overheard, and the _I love you too_. If they weren't involved, why would they say something like that? But why would Chris lie about it?

She was feeling almost as if she was coming to some sort of conclusion that would solve the big Chris-shaped puzzle that was Chris, as several small facts started to clamour for her attention, if she could only just figure it out-

"Hey, day-dreamer."

Piper's voice, warm and soft like honey, broke her out of her reverie. Startled, Paige blinked three times in rapid succession.

"Oh, um, sorry. I was just coming to grab the cordless and tell you the phone would be occupied for the next hour or so," Paige said, quickly moving across the kitchen and grabbing the aforementioned phone. She looked down at the cooling racks. "Oooh, gingersnaps." Her hand reached out for one. Pippa slapped it away with a grin. "Aw, this is not fair," Paige grouched. "Two of you against the one of me." She pouted. "Make me a really chewy one, yeah?"

"They're in right now," Piper said, grinning as she rested.

Paige nodded. "Fantastic. Oh-" she tilted her head as the thought occured to her "-Chris just got majorly PMS-y with me when I sarcastically called him master. D'you have any idea why-"

Pippa blinked, realising the question was directed at her. She turned to Paige, and Paige was struck again by how similar the two were - they could be twins. In fact, if Pippa hadn't told them she was forty-five, then they'd have never known _how_ far in the future Piper would be attacked by her own son.

Pippa shrugged. "No idea. Although..." It looked as if her mind was working over an idea.

"Although," Paige prompted hopefully.

"If what he's said- about Wyatt ruling the world... Maybe it's just an inherent distaste of dictatorship of any kind after seeing first-hand what can happen," Pippa said, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully. "It's just a thought," she added, hurriedly. Her face looked blank. "I just wish I didn't think those things, sometimes."

"Um. Thanks, anyway," Paige said, bobbing her head a little. She turned as if to go, then with a grin ran to the counter, grabbed a handful of still warm gingersnaps and ran off yelling in triumph to the sitting room.

Piper and Pippa looked at each other and just rolled their eyes.

Settling onto the couch with her well-earned prize, and snuggling up in the blankets seeing as they were there anyway, Paige piled the cookies in a pile on the side table before unfolding the paper. Bringing out the phone, she scanned down the list of names.

Alphabetical order. Bor_ing_. Chris was so predictable, sometimes! Still mad at him, for some reason that Paige couldn't fully explain, but was probably prolongued by that uncomfortable thought that she'd had earlier -that she was so close to figuring out just _who_ he was, and why _Victor_ trusted him and future Piper loved him and Leo understood enough not to tell them too...

_Damn it!_ She was close earlier, but now she felt the facts swimming away, and leaving her. In frustration, she picked up a pen, and waved it around above the paper. She closed her eyes and jabbed at one of the names.

"Dan Gordon." Paige spoke the name aloud. She'd heard the name somewhere before, maybe the sisters had mentioned it, but he was obviously before her time. _Listen to yourself. Before your time. Making your sisters sound like old fogeys._ She stifled the thought before it got too strong and Phoebe could feel it. Even though Phoebe was half-way across the city (_still in her job_) having an empathic sister still made her a little paranoid on occasion.

She read the number off the sheet, and then dialled it in. The area code was for somewhere in Seattle. Shrugging, she dialled the number and held it to her ear.

"Hello, this is Paige Matthews. I'm looking for a Mr. Dan Gordon?... He's moved?... I'm afraid it's very important I have his new number, yes... Uh, yes, I'm family. Sister-in-law," she lied quickly. The voice on the other end reeled a number off and she took it down. "Thank you very much."

As she got off the phone, she looked down at the number she had written down. It had a San Francisco code. Raising her eyebrows slightly, she dialled the number.

* * *

"Yeah, got it, thanks." Struggling under the last box the removal guy handed him, Dan Gordon lowered it to the ground, and grabbed the proferred clipboard offered to him. Scrawling his name, Dan cheefully said thanks, and when the guy had disappeared, he leant against the door and closed his eyes in relief that it was all over.

After taking a brief moment to revel in the silence and lack of mayhem, he straightened and took a long look around his new apartment. It was small, but clean, and a remarkable find. The apartments on the lower floors were a lot scruffier, but this one was clean, modern and big enough for him, and a guestroom for if Jenny were to come stay over.

He'd tried his hardest to stay away from San Francisco. After a long period of trying to blank it all out from his mind, pretending it hadn't happened, he'd felt the inexorable drag to come back. It was like something was physically pulling him back. He had noticed it at first, thought it was the golden thought of Piper, and then had pushed it away. But it had continued, tugging at him slightly. Nearly every day he saw something that reminded him of San Francisco.

And he _missed _it, dammit! He missed the clean streets, the nightlife, the friendly people, staring at the Golden Gate bridge as the light died at nighttime... He'd been at peace in Seattle, but had grown restless. His heart sang out for him to join the fight, the fight he knew was going on everyday and that he'd wanted so badly to ignore.

The phone ringing startled him out of his thoughts. Remembering the mistake of moving to San Francisco that time with Jenny, he'd paid the phone guy double to do plug it in ahead of his visit, and now was regretting it. However, he had paid Sharon at the office to forward calls from friends or family to the new number...

He picked up the handset, one hand in the back pocket of his jeans. "Hello?"

_"Dan Gordon?"_

Dan didn't recognise the female voice that floated down the line, but it sounded a little familiar. Something about the delivery sounded... recognisable... although he couldn't place the tone. "Speaking."

"_Hello, you don't know me, but my name is Paige Matthews. I'm, uh, Piper Halliwell's youngest sister_."

The words floored him. Here he'd been, valiantly trying _not_ to think about Piper (_it's been nearly four years, you idiot, move _on!) and her name had been mentioned. Then his brain properly kicked in. _Paige?_ He'd thought Piper's youngest sister was called Phoebe. So he said so.

"_Oh, they only found out about me three years ago," _Paige explained. Her voice was warm, and Dan realised why he found it so familiar - being around Piper that long, like a family member would be, would make anyone pick up some of her voice mannerisms.

"Oh," Dan said. It was all he could think of to say. "Uh, how is she? I mean, all of you? Prue, Phoebe-"

There was a stillness on the other end of the line, and then a hitch in Paige's breathing, as if something had hurt her. _"I'm sorry to be the one to have to tell you this. Uh, Prue died. Three years ago_."

Prue- was dead? Piper's older, driven, fiery sister was _dead_? Dan had always been struck by how _alive_ Prue was, how ready she was to face down anything that threatened her or her family... But _dead_? No... and Piper- His throat tightened. Piper loved her so _much..._

"How- how did it happen?" He found himself asking.

"_Uh-_" She managed, and Dan knew in that instant that Paige was going to lie to him.

Staring straight ahead of him, and standing straighter, Dan decided to get straight to the point. "Was it a demon?" He asked quietly.

He'd thought it would shock her. He didn't expect her to drop the phone.

"_Sorry for dropping the phone,_" she said after a while. "_Um, are you doing anything today"_

Dan took a long look around the room, piled high with boxes and with the furniture all shoved together at the end of the room. He glanced at the fridge, knowing exactly how empty it was. He thought of the million things he had to do that were generally associated with moving in.

"Nothing," he said, down the phone. "Shall I come over?"

That made Paige pause again. "_Yeah. Um, there's gingernaps- lots of gingersnaps- Uh, do you know where the manor is? Oh, stupid, of course you know where the manor is. Um, twelve o' clock all right for you? You can stay for lunch. Um. If you want._"

"Twelve's fine," Dan said, knowing he would probably try and skip out quickly but he could get lunch at one of the sunny San Francisco cafés he remembered. "See you then," he said easily, and as Paige made a similar statement, he dropped the phone back onto the cradle. His eyes settled on nothing in particular. What had he just agreed to?

* * *

"I think I just stunned Piper," Paige announced as she climbed the last stair into the attic. Chris looked up at her over the admittedly huge pipette he was wielding, and frowned. "All right," she ammended. "I stunned one of them, and made Pippa start to laugh."

"What did you do?" Chris asked as he started to add some fernwort to the simmering mixture in their - and it always made Paige laugh - cauldron.

"Invited Dan Gordon over," Paige said, sticking both her hands in her pockets, twisting her mouth and looking up to the ceiling, as if she knew she'd done something blatently wrong.

"You did?" Chris shot her a look, and he smiled a little. "Cool."

Paige did a doubletake. "Cool? You- know him"

A look flashed across Chris' face. "Are you kidding? Best player the Seattle Mariners ever had!"

Paige scrunched her nose up, and then her mouth fell open. "_That_ Dan Gordon? The baseball player?"

"_That_ Dan Gordon," Chris said. "The Dan Gordon that Piper almost chose over Leo." He looked as if he thought it was one of Piper's worst decisions.

"Rea-lly," Paige said, drawing out the syllable and sounding interested. She pursed her lips. "I didn't tell them that apparently he knows about demons."

Chris took this information in his stride, which made Paige think that Chris knew way more about Dan Gordon than he was letting on. "Probably not a good idea," he admitted. "Bet Piper was just shocked he was turning up."

"You could say that again," Paige said. There was a still a wry twist to her lips that Chris knew well. She hadn't told him everything.

"What else?" He asked, suspiciously.

"I invited him over for _lunch,_" Paige said. "In about half an hour."

Chris edged a look down at the stairs, and obviously was imagining Piper panicking. A guy she'd been crazy over was coming, and there she was - sat in the kitchen with her older self - baking gingernaps with said future self and her firstborn child. Not to mention being, oh, just over four weeks until she gave birth to her _second _son.

Both of them could almost hear the panic, and they started to laugh.

"Come on," Chris said, through a choked laugh that didn't come fully out. "Let's finish that potion. It should be finished by the time he's here."

* * *

Dan checked his watch as he stared up at the manor. It hadn't changed. The windows glared at him forbiddingly, and that damn door that had plagued him for so long was shut, as if to pointedly say, _nuh-nuh-ne-nuh-nuh_.

He wanted to turn away. Piper was probably still very happily married, and was probably all over Leo and- But part of him cried out _you still want to see her, if only it's just this once. And who knows? Maybe you were right? Maybe he wasn't right for her, after all..._

With a deep breath, he walked up the steps, each one making his legs feel heavier and heavier. He stood at the door, and knocked. He could face his worse fears. He could face Leo Wyatt and smile and not punch out the lucky bastard's front teeth. He could _do_ this, dammit!

He lifted up his hand. He knocked. The door opened.

A brunette young woman with very pale skin was standing at the door, smiling at him hesitantly, in long shorts and a tank top. Her eyes were a familiar colour. He realised she must be Paige. "Uh, hi, you must be Dan," she said, warmly.

He nodded, and moved to extend his hand forward to shake her hand, when he saw it. A very large, very ugly demon suddenly appearing as if from nowhere behind her, raising a large pointy thing at her.

"DEMON!" He bellowed, and did the first thing that came to mind. He flung himself forwards, relying on his sports training to tackle Paige solidly to the ground. She fell with a muffled squeak, and the demon's sword thunked into the door.

"Holy sh-" A familiar voice yelped, and Dan looked up in time to see a _heavily _pregnant Piper skid onto the scene and bring up her hands. The demon exploded in a fiery twist of nothingness.

Dan sighed in relief, and got to his feet, helping Paige up as he did so. She looked startled.

But not as startled as he was when a _second_ Piper ran around the corner, wielding a frying pan.

He looked around at the scene dazedly, absently noticing Phoebe's absence, and he bristled a little as a young man came softly down the stairs. He had brown hair, hanging lankly into his sea-green eyes, and he felt somewhat... dangerous.

Dan swallowed, and grinned. "Well, at least I managed to get through the door" he quipped. "Mind explaining to me why there's two of you?"

"Um," Piper said. "This is Pippa, and she's... from the future."

"It's a long story," Paige interjected from the side, her pale face shining with worry.

Dan looked at the scene slowly, and the words came easily to him. "I've got time."

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	16. Chapter the Sixteenth

**Neurotic

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**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry" Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

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**Chapter The Sixteenth**

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"**Yenene!"**

Paul spoke the word out confidently, knowing she would only come forth from a brusque command rather than the tentative "Ye-uh-neeennee?" that really wanted to come forth. Or the "…." silence that he'd _much_ rather prefer. He always _had_ been more of a cowardly lion than anything else – he supposed it was because he'd grown up around Chris and Wyatt, and had had them to protect him for a long time.

"Child, you're scared of me! How delicious!"

The hissing voice slid out of the dark tunnel. It felt like sandpaper on his skin. A faint hint of acid and soap hung on the air.

"Guess you can smell my fear," Paul said, with a flippancy he did not feel.

"Naw, I can just see your expression."

Paul frowned, and cast around. He couldn't _see_ anything…

"Down here!" The voice squeaked imperatively. Paul lowered his gaze and almost burst out laughing. The woman was, like, half Paul's height! _This_ was the frightful potion mistress Yenene?

"That's a very uncharitable thought you're having, Mr. Halliwell," Yenene said to him. Her lips were large and plump, and her face was sagged and wrinkled like that of a rhino's behind. "_That_ one too," she said, eyes narrowed shrewdly.

Paul folded his arms and glared at her. "Wyatt didn't say anything about you being telepathic."

Yenene actually chuckled at that. Her laugh was low and raspy, and reminded Paul of a machine gun's _rat-tat-tat-tat-tat._ It was not comforting. "Follow me," she commanded curtly. An eerie light fell about her feet as she walked, and Paul reluctantly followed into that great maw of a tunnel. "No, I'm not telepathic, boy. I _am_, however, old. Older than you can comprehend."

"Older than a million billion years?" Paul asked, his curiosity temporarily surmounting his fear.

"Hm. Maybe a little younger than that. Follow along."

_I _am_ following_, Paul wanted to retort, but he hadn't said anything that childish in a while, and then it was to Chris, and he didn't want to think about that because it hurt too much. They walked in silence down a length of the tunnel, but silence only in regard to the words that left their lips, for sounds followed them as they walked. Their footsteps resounded to a roar as they padded down the rocky tunnel, and Paul could almost swear he could hear a high-pitched laugh, spinning dizzily into the air…

"Whoa, day-dreamer, we're here," Yenene said, and Paul lifted his head angrily into the air, confusion on his face. They were in a bulbous room, littered with equipment, but it had not been the fact that they'd arrived that had startled him, but the words. They seemed familiar, like something that called to him from his childhood that he could not remember… A warm face, smiling at him, deep-brown knowing eyes, and snow- there was something about _snow_…

He shook it away. He had no time for this.

"So we are," Paul said, conversationally, as if his mind had been nowhere but there.

"I'll need some of your blood," Yenene said, and it was all the warning he got when she darted forwards and slashed through his arm to the skin beneath.

"Hey!" He said angrily as she lifted a glass vial to his arm and unfussily started to collect his blood as it fell.

"You _are_ of the family, are you not?" She asked piercingly as she patted him on the arm and shuffled her bulk away to a cauldron brewing in the corner.

"Yes," he said, glaring at her darkly. "I just prefer a little warning before I'm sliced open."

"And when have you ever had that?" Yenene queried with a laugh as she fussed over the cauldron. She reached over for a small flask and filled it was a black liquid. She walked over to Paul and handed it to him.

He looked at it coolly. The potion was so black it almost made his eyes slide away, and the paleness of his skin made it stand out all the more. "What do you require for this?"

"Oh, Lord Wyatt has already given me _enough_ payment," Yenene crowed. "I shall provide you with more tomorrow. It must be administered daily to increase the strength of its power. Mix it into something strong. Black coffee is the best. It will hide the taste."

Paul bobbed his head in thanks, and orbed away.

He hovered outside the manor for a second. Inside the kitchen, he could see Paige picking up a plate of sandwiches and carrying them through to the kitchen. Other than that, it was deserted. _The girls must have a guest. Good_. This was his chance.

He solidified quickly in the kitchen, and nudged the door shut as he ran to the counter. It would be a good warning system for when anyone came to the kitchen, and they would assume the wind blew it shut.

Paul scanned over the cups of tea already made on the tray, and quickly picked out the one Piper would use. It was a large one, and the only one with unsweetened, very bitter organic caffeine-free coffee. Wyatt knew Piper well, her habits when she was pregnant and when she was not. With a quick recheck to make sure no one was around, he drank a mouthful of the coffee, pulled a face at the taste, and poured in the potion. It bubbled a little, but that would be mistaken for heat…

The door edged open a little, and Paul orbed away. His task was complete. Now all he had to do was sit back and wait for the side effects…

* * *

"All right." Piper's voice was tired as she shuffled on the seat, trying to get comfortable. Any and all explanations had been delayed until the retrieval of lunch. Pippa and Paige had made everyone drinks, and now Pippa was handing out sandwiches while Paige went to fetch the drinks.

Paige bounced back into the room, struggling under the weight of the tray, and Chris stepped up from his perch on the edge of the couch to help her. Paige smiled at his chivalry.

"Nice to know not _all_ things die out in the future," Paige quipped as she smiled at Chris and started to hand out the hot drinks.

"Paige, did you _really_ have to make my coffee this bitter?" Piper complained after sipping at her brew.

"You asked for it," Paige said, delivering the last sweetened coffee to Dan and taking her own Iced Tea onto the couch, sitting next to Pippa.

"Why don't we start with how I know about demons," Dan said softly, his eyes taking in the complexity of the room. "I think it _might_ be the least complicated thing going on."

There were head nods and various murmurs of agreement around the room.

"Well, you remember that day I left?" Dan said. Piper and Pippa both nodded. Dan's eyes unfocussed a little at that, and he set his tea and plate of sandwiches aside to continue. "A genie appeared before me, told me that you wanted me to have peace. He gave me the option to remember or not, and I decided to remember. The whole idea of forgetting a whole day… It goes against everything I believe in, I guess. But I was- I was angry. I was angry you'd lied, and I was just- angry over everything. That's why I left, and my pride wouldn't let me return, and for that I'm sorry."

"The genie- I _knew_ I shouldn't have trusted it," Piper murmured softly. She looked at him with eyes touched with warmth and not a little pain. "I should have told you, you're right. But-"

"I understand. It would have been hard, and I probably wouldn't have accepted it had you told me. God knows I didn't the first time," Dan said, with a small shrug. "I've spent the last few years trying to come to terms with it, and I think now I can. You live with this world all the time, and I can't just hide myself away from it."

"But that's the point. That's what we're here for," Piper said, with a voice tinged with acceptance of her role in the world. "We're here to make the world safe so innocents like you don't have to suffer."

"And aren't you innocent to? Did you do anything to deserve this?" Dan said.

"Yeah," Pippa said dryly. "We didn't keep Phoebe's curiosity on a leash."

Paige and Chris smirked.

"Okay, now you owe me some explanations," Dan said easily.

"I don't know where to start," Piper said helplessly.

"How about from when I left?"

"Okay." Piper sounded a little unsure. "I'll try and keep this short. Phoebe married a half-demon – Cole – who became the source of all evil. She became the Queen of the Underworld, but eventually vanquished him to rejoin us. Prue died at the hands of a demon that almost killed me too. We found Paige, who's the result of mom's affair with her Whitelighter Sam. I married Leo, we had Wyatt a couple of years ago. I'm pregnant again – yeap, by Leo. Chris Perry-" Chris waved at that "-came from the future to warn us that Wyatt is going to be turned evil sometime in the next four weeks. Leo became an Elder and he's not around much. We met Paul, who's apparently my sixteen year old _third_ son, who is a very cheery evil-doer, and then Pippa – she's my future self – fell out of a portal the other day, having almost died by Wyatt's hand. Well, Wyatt's sword. Oh, and my dad and Leo and Pippa all know who Chris really is, and they're being all secretive about it. Anything else?"

Dan was looking as if he'd just schmucked into something very large and painful. He was mouthing something to himself, and then he shook his head very hard, and blinked at her very fast, four times.

"Are you all right?" Paige asked, leaning forwards, concerned.

"I think he's trying to take everything in," Chris said. "Just because he knows about magic doesn't mean he _knows_."

Paige pursed her lips curiously, and waved her hands in front of his face. She leant back with a grin. "You stunned him! Atta girl! Or maybe you froze him…"

"I'm not frozen," Dan said snappishly. He glanced at Paige apologetically, and then his eyes widened. He pointed at Piper. "She can _freeze_ me?"

"Not freeze like _ice_ freeze. She can freeze time," Paige said helpfully.

Dan's eyebrows shot up, and then he edged a look at her. He flushed, brilliantly. "Unfortunately, that explains some things." He did not elaborate. Chris pulled a face that said he'd rather be anywhere else but where he was. Paige's nose wrinkled too. "Do you—all have powers? I mean, you said you had supernatural powers to fight off demons and warlocks, but-" His voice faltered a little. "I had no idea as to the extent of the those powers…"

"Well, Piper can blow things up and freeze time," Paige said, taking over the role of 'explainer.' "Phoebe has premonitions – visions of the future – and she's empathic, and can levitate. I'm half Whitelighter so I can orb, heal people for a millisecond and I can bring things to me at my command. A sort of telekinesis."

Dan's nod was slower this time, and he didn't blink quite so much.

"And from what we can tell, Chris can orb, and he has telekinesis too," Paige added.

"Like you," Dan said.

Paige wrinkled her nose. "No, not like me. I'm much cooler."

Chris wrinkled his nose, and lifted his hand to reach over and smack her when a jet of fire flew from his hand. He fell off the couch in surprise, and Paige twisted, panic on her face as she picked up a discarded sweater and started to beat at the small fire that Chris had suddenly started. Everyone moved quickly away to look at the scorch marks.

"Okay, not like you, he can set things on fire as well," Dan said, remarkably composedly considering.

"Not until just now," Chris said, staring at his hands in some confusion. He looked up worriedly, his gaze locking with Pippa's. He sat with a thud on the chair, eyes wide as he stared at his open hands. His voice was trembling as he asked the question that was on most of their minds. His face shone with a sudden vulnerability that touched them all to the quick as he voiced the words. "Isn't-" He swallowed. "Isn't fire-throwing an evil power?"

**

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	17. Chapter the Seventeenth

**Neurotic

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**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

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**Chapter The Seventeenth**

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**

Chris was still staring at his hands. No one quite knew how to console him. He looked more spooked than anything else, as if one wrong thing would send him running off, startled.

Pippa walked over to him, and knelt down by his feet. She looked up at him, eyes searching his drawn face. "You're not evil, Chris."

"No." His eyes flew up to meet hers. His face was drawn and pale. His voice was filled with an edgy bitterness. "You're so sure _now_."

"-Chris, look, I'm _sorry_ about everything that happened before- we had no right to say that of you," Pippa said, incomprehensibly to those watching on. She put her hands on his. "We should have believed you, and we didn't. We let you think you were going crazy, and that was inexcusable. But you're _not_... You're _not_."

He wrenched his hands away, suddenly angry. "Yeah," he said, his eyes alight with fury. He got to his feet, and walked out to the back of the house.

"You let... him think he was going crazy," Paige's eyes widened as she took in the words. "What the hell?"

"Oh, god, oh, god..." Piper looked like she understood better. "It was when Wyatt was doing evil things, wasn't it? Chris- for some reason, Chris saw them, and you didn't-"

"Yes," Pippa said, the admission hurting her. She closed her eyes, and collapsed right there on the floor, leaning against the chair Chris had sat in and staring out in the direction he'd left in. "I couldn't believe that Wyatt was evil, and Chris paid for it..."

"So he really, really _is_ close to the family in the future," Paige said, musing out loud. "Do we adopt him, or something?"

Pippa's face closed over. "I can't tell you that," she said, her voice wavering. She looked as if she wanted to get up and talk to him, but hadn't the strength left in her limbs to do it. "I can't-"

"Want me to go fetch him?" Paige asked, getting to her feet matter-of-factly.

"You know, I think I will," Dan said quickly, leaving the room before any of them could stop him. The girls exchanged a glance and shrugged.

Chris sat with a thump on one of the benches in the back garden. It was lovely out here. He didn't know why the girls didn't spend more time outside... Actually, in theory he did. If a demon attacked, it was easier to conceal if it happened inside than out in the open.

He could feel someone behind him even though the grass had hidden the sound of their approach, and he turned, expecting Paige or Pippa. Dan's appearance surprised him. Dan was standing with his hands in his pockets, and an analytic expression on his open face.

"You're from the future," Dan said slowly. Chris nodded, not knowing what else to say, and looking up at Dan because if he didn't, he knew he'd stare at his hands. _And I don't want to look. I don't want to remember what I did..._ "Okay, laugh at me if I'm wrong, but I just got the strong impression that your name isn't Chris Perry. Just the way you flinched a little when they said it. And there's other things that..." Without asking permission, he sat down next to Chris. "...that seemingly don't add up about you. But tell me to go away if I'm being too pushy. You've known me for what? Ten minutes?"

"Does it help if I say I've known you longer?" Chris said, looknig straight ahead and not at Dan.

"All right," Dan said, although the words made him feel a strange combination of uncomfortable and... _right_. "It helps a little." He spent a moment to take in the appearance of the other, and knew he'd jumped to more or less the right conclusion. "I think I know who you are," Dan admitted quietly. Chris turned to him then, his face set fixedly. It was a mask that supposedly gave the impression of composure, but terror lurked beneath the surface of those sea-green eyes that Dan knew so well. They were Leo's eyes. He'd hated that man long enough to recognise his facial features in another. "And frankly, I can't understand how the girls haven't seen it."

Chris looked away, and exhaled, hard. "To be honest, me too. I guess people don't see what they don't want to see."

"Ain't that the truth," Dan said softly. "It must be hard."

"God- you've no idea." Chris' eyes were scanning the landscape, as though looking for something that wasn't there. "How did you-"

"You have Leo's eyes," Dan said. "And when you look at Piper- both of them- you just look upset."

"I don't mean to be." Chris' voice was filled with a self-hating note that Dan didn't like to hear from someone so _young_. "If we don't stop Wyatt, he'll destroy the world as we know it. I can't let that happen." He clenched his fists helplessly in his lap. "I won't."

"You say that with such fervour, and you think you're turning evil?" Dan questioned. Chris opened his mouth to retort, and then shut it stupidly, looking up at Dan.

Finally he smiled. It was like the first rays of sunlight on a snowdrop. "Yeah, you're right. You won't tell them, will you? Who I am, I mean..."

Dan shook his head. "No. That's your job."

Chris shot him an exasperated look. "That's what Grandpa said too," he said, sounding almost as if he was annoyed, but the look on his face told Dan otherwise.

"He's obviously a wise man," Dan said.

Chris grinned.

"You going to come inside?"

"Yeah..." Chris breathed. He looked up at Dan. "Thanks."

"No problem," Dan said. "One thing I have to know though. Is Leo- was Leo good to Piper in your time?"

Chris shut his eyes as if it hurt. "To Piper? Oh, yes."

"Good," Dan said. He felt a rush of curiosity and wanted to question him further after that reply. He must have worded it that way deliberately... He shoved that line of questioning aside, and walked back into the house, smiling as Chris followed him.

* * *

"Leo. There you are."

Leo looked up from his seat to see the smiling but concerned face of his old mentor, Gideon. Leo blinked a few times. "Hi."

"I came to enquire how you are. Several of us have been... worried... at your distance over the last week or so," Gideon said. "I, in particular, am worried that you've been spending too much time down _there_."

Leo sighed. "With the Piper from the future coming... a lot's going on for the girls. It's hard to leave them in the care of another, especially-"

"-when you miss your son so much" Gideon said.

"Yeah, that's it exactly," Leo said.

"But you said in your report that Chris was trustworthy," Gideon said, looking puzzled as he sat next to Leo.

"Oh, he is," Leo said. "I'd trust him with my life. He-" Leo knew he should tell them the truth, that Chris was his _son_, but felt somehow that with his previous pain it would be almost like whinging. "He's a good person."

Gideon just nodded. "Does he have any idea what will turn Wyatt?"

Leo shrugged. "He's had a couple of new ideas, but none have panned out yet. The girls visited a fortune teller, and seem to think maybe it's a friend, someone we know, that will betray us."

"A _friend,_" Gideon's face was heavy. "That would be disastrous indeed."

"Yeah," Leo said. "So they're chasing up that lead too, calling old friends, seeing where they are, researching them. They've even put _us_ on the list," he added with a laugh.

"Us?"

"Elders," Leo clarified. He grinned conspiritorially at his mentor. "They even put _you_ on the top of the list. Don't know why, maybe you're more evil than I am."

Gideon laughed along with the joke, but it was a little forced. Leo put it down to the stress he'd been having with the school.

"I've resigned from the school," Gideon said, heavily, as if he'd read Leo's thoughts.

"What? Why?" Leo said, astounded. "I mean, I knew you were going to, but-"

Gideon's face clouded over. "Yes, I've had letters galore, but I swore to myself no innocent lives would be lost. I would be compromising everything I stood for if I let myself continue." His gaze was heavy. "I think the school may even close."

"No!" Leo blurted out. "You can't do that! A whole generation of magical children will be left even _more_ susceptible to magic!"

A door shut in Gideon's eyes. "Be that as it may, I cannot. We must pray someone will take over the job. As for I, it is too late..."

They settled into an uncomfortable silence. "I see," Leo said. He frowned suddenly, as if remembering something. "Actually, I think I have an idea of who could possibly take up the job..."

* * *

_"Sail home, as straight as an arrow,  
My yacht shoots along on the crest of the sea;  
Sail home-"_

"-you can stop caterwauling like a kitty on speed, I'm here," Paul snapped out irritably as he orbed onto the beach. Wyatt's projection was already there, sat out staring into the water.

"Did you get the potion?" Wyatt asked, cat-like, without turning around.

"Yes. And I put it into Piper's coffee," Paul said, as if reciting a long and boring lesson. "And I hung around outside in time to see Chris spurt flames out from his hand and storm off."

"Good," Wyatt said. "I hope that wasn't a note of regret I heard, though, in your voice."

"No, of course not," Paul said, but he sounded unsure and Wyatt did not believe him.

"Yenene didn't trouble you much?" Wyatt said. "She can be... strange... to those who have never met her before."

"She said you'd already paid her for the potion," Paul said, "although I can't see how"

"You shall know when it's time, and not sooner," Wyatt said, sounding peeved. This time he turned around, looking at Paul through slitted eyes. "You are having second thoughts." It was not a question.

"I don't want to be caused to not exist," Paul said, drawing himself up to his full height, and trying to stare Wyatt down. "It's a natural fear, I think, for any messing up the timeline."

"Chris started the messing up," Wyatt said. "And you know I would rather you existed. Although, if you are going to be ridiculous, and turn... you know the price."

Paul swallowed. "Would I be so stupid? Chris betrayed me, they all did. I'm not going to 'turn', I know the truth. That good and evil thing got old a long time ago."

Wyatt seemed satisfied by the answer, and he turned away again to stare aimlessly at the sea. He leant backwards on his hands, and resumed the singing in a soft golden voice.

_"Sail home, as straight as an arrow,  
My yacht shoots along on the crest of the sea;  
Sail home, to sweetest Melinda,  
In her dear little cell  
She is waiting for me..."_

Paul shivered as Wyatt disappeared, as he thought of his cousin, trapped, scared... alone. _Chris never went back for her, either. He left me for dead, and left her too, and I won't. I won't._ His eyes lingered where Wyatt had sat. He would callously harm Melinda if he betrayed him, and he knew it. _Hang on, Mel. I'll get you out. I promise._

Walking over to where Wyatt had sat, Paul looked out at the landscape, hugging himself, and then, on a whim, looked down to where Wyatt had sat. His handprints were still there, outlined deeply in the sand, his footprints pointing out towards the sea...

_Projections through a time portal don't leave any physical marks_, a voice told him from his memories, and he swallowed it back. _Oh, mom, I miss you so _much!

He swallowed, and knew how come he was being so closely watched. He was glad he had not betrayed Wyatt even as he'd had the chance.

Wyatt wasn't projecting himself to the past. Wyatt was already _there_.

**

* * *

**


	18. Chapter the Eighteenth

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

* * *

**Chapter The Eighteenth**

**

* * *

**

Sigmund sighed as he picked up the polishing rag he'd dropped for the twentieth time already this morning. As the days crawled on forwards, and their attempts to stop Wyatt increased, he'd grown more and more nervous that the Charmed Ones would find out.

Leaning over the crystal ball on the desk, he picked it up and morosely began to polish it. If he'd only learned to develop his third eye in divination classes… but fortune telling had never been where his talents had lain.

The door slamming open caught his attention, and he looked up to see Gideon storm in. Frustration was clear on the Elder's face.

"Yes, as a matter of fact there is," Gideon said, his eyebrows drawing together as he sat down at his chair, brooding. Sigmund moved to face him, worry almost tangible in his expression. "I think they're onto us."

"What?" Sigmund knew he'd squeaked, and he flushed ungainly.

"The Charmed Ones are pursuing a _friends_ angle," Gideon said, musing darkly. "They seem to think Wyatt will be harmed by someone close to him."

"Well that's not automatically us, is it?" Sigmund asked, arching one eyebrow. He dropped the rag, deliberately this time.

"The interfering Whitelighter from the future, Chris Perry, seems to think it is us," Gideon said heavily. "He's drawn up a list of suspects, and I am on the top of the list."

Sigmund's eyes widened. "But… how?"

Gideon shrugged. "I do not know. Perhaps some future knowledge that the girls are currently unaware of. I think- we have to implement our plan."

Sigmund frowned. "I-"

"Not _that_ one, you blathering fool," Gideon snapped. "Get Corr and Clea for me, and then call a meeting of the Elders. It's about time they started to realise about the witches that are going missing, and why…"

* * *

Chris sunk onto the table and hid his head in his arms. "Twenty-eight days," he moaned into his arms, the words clear despite being muffled. "We're doomed."

"We are with that attitude," Phoebe chided. She was sat perched on the end of a chair, her hands dancing over her keyboard as she researched the location of old flames.

Chris lurched up and fixed a dirty glance at her. "You sound like your Grams," he said, accusingly.

"Finally, a compliment," Phoebe said, her eyes sparkling at him from over the edge of the monitor.

"Right, that's it, I'm going down there," Chris decided, getting to his feet. "I'm tired of sitting around!"

"God, I am totally empathising with you there," Piper grouched from over in the living room. "If _I _can't go up and help Paige and Pippa make that reducing potion, _you_ can't go underground until we've figured out how come you're sprouting an evil power."

Chris blinked at her, and pouted.

"That expression won't work on me, young man," Piper warned. Chris rolled his eyes and sank back down onto his seat.

"Well, can I-" Chris started.

"No!" Piper said sharply. "You can _not_ go and help them with the potion. If you're being affected my some external forces, we can't afford for some of it to be translated to a potion."

"Aw, man!" Folding his arms, Chris glared at the table. "How about-"

"Book of Shadows is mine, mister," Piper growled.

"Well-"

"There's nothing that needs cleaning _or_ to be cooked _or_ to be watered," Piper said, a little loudly. "You just sit there and be a good boy and keep quiet."

"Yes, _mom_," Chris said, sarcasm lacing his voice even as he inwardly smirked. He looked over at Phoebe. "Any leads?"

"No," Phoebe said, pulling a face. "There are a lot of the guys still in San Francisco, though, so we'll probably need some extra research on where they are. Maybe we can scry for them… It would be better if we could talk to Darryl, see if any of them have criminal records…"

"Oh, give your computer here," Chris snapped, grabbing the computer away from Phoebe before she could blink. She exchanged a long look across Chris' head with Piper. Chris' fingers started flying across the keyboard, and he didn't look away from the screen as he typed furiously for a few minutes. Eventually he passed the laptop back to Phoebe, smirking.

Phoebe's mouth fell open. "You hacked into the _police_?" She asked.

"That's so _cool_!" Piper said, getting up from her seat and waddling over. She shoved Chris out of the way a little. "Hey, you could totally abuse this…"

Phoebe slapped Piper's hands away as Piper reached for it. "Huh, Chris, maybe we should look at the angle of Wyatt's _mother_ being the one that turns her."

"Huh, maybe," Chris said, arching a look at Piper. "You know, screw this. I'm going down there. You girls have fun." He rolled his eyes and orbed away. Phoebe gaped.

"Damn boy! I coulda gone with him…" Muttering, the police website already forgotten, Piper stomped off upstairs before Phoebe could stop her.

Phoebe blinked. "Okay, what the _hell_ just happened there?" She demanded the empty room.

Orb lights started to fall in front of her, and she blinked, and exhaled in relief. "Thank god you've seen sense, Chris-" she started, and then jumped, startled, as Leo solidifiedin front of her.

"What do you mean by that?" Leo demanded, instantly looking worried. Phoebe got a rush of concern about Chris, and was puzzled by it.

"Uh, hello to you too," she said, a little perturbed. "Chris seems to be developing an evil power. Apparently while Dan was over here, fire came out of his hands."

"Fire throwing isn't purely an evil power," Leo said, frowning. "A witch with that power, actually, was discovered missing this morning by her Whitelighter." He paused, as her words hit her. "Dan?"

Phoebe winced. "Dan Gordon?" She phrased it like a question, not wanting to hurt him when she realised her mistake. "Sorry, Leo. Paige phoned him up in our big research session, and it turns out he's moved back here. And for some reason, he knows about demons and magic. We had to have him over, Leo. If it helps, he's one of our prime suspects now," she added, brightly.

Leo's expression was a bit drawn, but he smiled a little at her last comment. "Yeah. Anyway, Chris?"

"Well, we told him to stay here, just in case some external power is affecting him, but he stormed off to the underworld," Phoebe said, grimacing. "And Piper was quite grumpy too, come to think of it. Maybe they've had an argument, or something…"

"Maybe," Leo said, but his face was tense, as if he was thinking something else. "Uh, are Piper and Paige upstairs?"

"Yeah," Phoebe said.

"Come on. I need a word with the three of you," Leo said.

"So witches have been going missing?" Paige asked. "How come we haven't heard of it until now?"

Leo shrugged. "It's been quite quiet," he said, "and we've no idea where they're disappearing to."

"I've an idea," a voice said. Chris orbed in. He looked highly pleased with himself, and he had a videotape in his hand.

"What's that?" Piper asked suspiciously. Pippa's eyes narrowed in thought.

"If a girl named Sadako made that, I'm not watching it," Paige warned.

"Don't joke about that," Chris said, "a particular nasty video curse _will_ be circulated in the next six years or so. A lot of people will die."

"Chris!" Pippa warned. "Future consequences!"

"_Screw_ future consequences," Chris muttered, but he stayed resolutely quiet for a moment as he glowered at the floor. "This is a tape of a new show that's pretty popular down there at the minute."

"A _television_ show? From down there?" Piper shrugged, and grabbed the tape from Chris. "Heh, let's watch it. Can't be any worse than the crap that's on TV normally."

She made to move downstairs. Phoebe frowned, and put a hand on her sister's arm to stop her.

"Piper-" Phoebe started. Piper wrenched her arm away with more force than usual, and Phoebe fell back a couple of steps. She looked at Piper in alarm. Chris laughed. "What the hell is up with you two?" She demanded, looking between her heavily pregnant sister and Chris in disbelief.

"Seriously, Pheebs, just chill," Piper said, rolling her eyes and heading towards the stairs. "Let's go watch this."

"I'm in," Chris said softly, a smile on his face as he moved to follow her down the stairs. Leo, Pippa, Paige and Phoebe exchanged worried looks. Leo looked at Pippa hesitantly. Pippa noticed his look.

"Don't look at me," Pippa said quietly. "These events are completely different from the ones I went through. This reality show happened, though, although quite a few months later. A lot of witches died before we discovered it."

"Well, then, it's a good thing we've discovered it now," Paige said grimly. "If we can save more innocents, it's a good thing, right?"

"Right," Phoebe said, troubled.

"What is it?" Leo asked Phoebe. "You look troubled…"

"Oh, it's nothing much," Phoebe said. Her chocolate brown eyes were dark with worry. "Normally I can't feel much from Chris or Piper, but I felt… darkness from them. A very familiar… hatred."

"Then something must be affecting them," Paige said. "We'll have more chance figuring out what it is if we watch them closer."

They nodded, and headed downstairs.

Chris had put the videotape in moments before they arrived downstairs, and he'd settled back in a sprawl on one of the chairs with the remote control pointed at the machine.

"I've made some drinks," Piper said grouchily as she walked slowly into the kitchen, holding her back. "Paige, you'll bring them in, won't you?"

Paige nodded, concern washing over her pale heart-shaped face as she walked out to the kitchen. Phoebe, Pippa and Leo sat down silently to watch the television. Paige came back in with the tray of drinks.

"Hey, bring mine first!" Piper snapped. Wrinkling her nose, Paige scurried over and gave it to her. Piper fairly growled at her over the edge of her mug as she took a sip of her coffee. The others exchanged a glance as Chris pressed play.

Flames flickered across the screen, and a cheesy opening music blared out. A title "Witch Wars" blazed across the screen, along with some still images of some frightened young women and scary large demons.

"_Welcome to Witchwars! Tonight, let's watch our Gamesmasters take on three special candidates! One witch has the power to soar, one has lightning, one has cyrokinesis… will any survive? It'll be winner takes all, and we will take all. Their lives… and their powers!..."_

They watched in horror the thirty-minute show, as large demons chased down young witches barely out of their teens, and killed them in slow agonising ways. Paige and Phoebe both wanted to stop after the first death, but Chris and Piper wouldn't let them. As the ending credits rolled, and Phoebe took down the names of the demons listed to add to the Map to vanquish, an extra segment crackled into life.

"_Next week, tune in to Witchwars as we tackle the legendary Charmed Ones!"_ Still images of Paige, Phoebe and Piper crackled onto screen. "_Watch as we take their lives, their powers, and and last but not least, their progeny…"_

"We've found it," Paige said in realisation, as static filled the screen. She looked at the others, who looked as if they agreed. "The ones who turn Wyatt!"

* * *


	19. Chapter the Nineteenth

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

* * *

**Chapter The Nineteenth**

**

* * *

**

Whatever Paige was expecting as a reply, it was not for Chris to burst out laughing hysterically, and fall to the carpet, beating it with his fist as he howled with laughter. Piper and Pippa exchanged a smirk and started to laugh too.

Phoebe, however, just looked confused.

"What did I say?" Paige demanded.

"The stupidest thing _ever_," Pippa snorted. Paige looked hurt. "In my time, this happened _months_ _later_. So unless you're wishing this pregnancy to go on for a few more months…"

Paige pouted. "Well, it could still be the demons behind it, right?"

"Oh, god, she had a thought!" Chris snorted, covering his mouth with his hands and laughing helplessly.

Phoebe got to her feet and looked down at them. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothin'," Chris said, blinking up at her from the floor. "What the hell is wrong with _you_?"

Phoebe gaped a little, and bent down to tug him up from the carpet, when the premonition hit her. Pulling away, she looked down sharply at him, and then across to where Piper was clutching her coffee. She stalked over to Piper, and tugged it away. Piper glared at her.

"How _dare_ you!" Piper gasped as Phoebe walked across the room with her coffee, and poured half of it into one of the pot plants decorating the mantelpiece.

The plant promptly died, its tendrils turning brown and withering before their eyes.

"Paul's been poisoning your coffee," Phoebe said, her dark eyes watching the destroyed plant. "By the look of things, with the same potion that the Seer used on me."

"The one to make you evil?" Paige said. Her eyes widened. "Well, that explains Piper, but not _him_…"

Chris had shuffled to a sitting position by one of the chairs, and he glowered at Paige, looking between the sisters and his mom a little confusedly, as if just awakening from a dream. If this was true then he wasn't evil, and—and he'd just acted like a complete prat…

_Like that's any different from normal._

Piper looked at the coffee mug which Phoebe was still holding, then at Chris, and her mouth dropped open. He figured that, maybe, she was beginning to come out of the stupor too.

Chris cringed, openly. Jeez, this whole thing was so screwed _up_. If they were going to find out from _this…_ Maybe his Grandpa was right. He should have told them sooner. Now they were just going to find out, and be so _mad_ at him…

"You've been testing my drinks for me?" Piper asked.

Chris blinked. Then he blinked again. He resisted the motion that he wanted to make and kept his mouth clammed shut. Man, was his mom _really_ this stupid? It appeared she was.

"Uh, yeah," he said awkwardly, squirming. "Just to check if anyone was poisoning you, or anything."

Piper screwed her mouth up a little. "Yeah, great job," she deadpanned.

Chris pulled a wry face, but inwardly he was relieved. _She could have found out, then,_ _and you would have been in a hog's load of trouble._ From the look on Pippa's face, she was thinking nearly the same thing. _The potion must have affected her too._

"Sorry," he said, pulling a face and shrugging his shoulders. Then he realised something. "So I'm not evil?" He asked Phoebe.

Phoebe was still looking troubled, but was struck by the vulnerability in Chris' voice. She smiled softly, and dropped to his level. She put one hand on his shoulder.

"You're not evil, honey," she said simply, getting to her feet and grabbing the mug. "I'll take this upstairs, and see if I can whip up some sort of potion antidote."

"No, you don't," Paige said grimly, getting to her feet and standing forcibly in her way. Phoebe pouted at her.

"Did you drink some of it too?" Phoebe asked pointedly.

"Naw, I'm just better at potions than you are," Paige said, equitably. "And also, I am beginning to resent being the one left on babysitting duty. And – if your vision was close to the truth – I'm going to be a teacher one day, and that's a _whole_ lot of babysitting."

"So shouldn't you get some practise?" Phoebe asked, looking torn. Paige stepped back a little, and Phoebe looked up in hope.

"All right, I'll race you," Paige said, surprising Phoebe. "First one to the Book of Shadows makes the potion."

Phoebe nodded, but as soon as she had, Paige orbed away. Loud laughter could be heard all the way downstairs. Phoebe scrunched her face up a little.

"Hint. Next time you agree to a race with a Halliwell, stipulate that no powers are to be used," Pippa advised. Phoebe pulled a wry face at the older version of Piper.

* * *

"Great, just great!"

Dan stared up at the truck pulling away from the drive. They'd come to deposit his new freezer, and deposit it they had. Right in front of him. When he'd complained, they only told him to read the small print, before laughing and driving off.

The small print, on his receipt, said that the delivery cost only constituted delivery to the _building_, and any consequent transportation necessary was customer to figure out.

He eyeballed the small freezer, and wondered if he could drag it up on his own. He really wished he had Paige's power at that moment, or Chris'. _And anyway, maybe that delivery company is _run_ by a demon, who knows..._

Sighing, he bent over and managed to clamp his arms around the machinery. _If I can just get it to the lift…_ Staggering under its weight, he managed to get it nearly to the door, when he realised that the door had slammed shut. Probably by the wind.

Gingerly dropping the freezer to the ground, Dan edged around it and managed to grab hold of the door, only for it to open a whole lot easier than he was expecting.

The reason for that became clear quickly, as he came face to face with a man in his fifties. He instantly liked the guy. His brown eyes held warmth and openness.

"Need a hand?" The man said.

"God, please," Dan said, with a smile of relief. He extended one hand. "I'm your new upstairs neighbour, Dan Gordon."

"Victor Bennett," said the other man, taking Dan's hand in a firm handshake. Dan frowned – he'd heard the name somewhere before, somewhere-

"You're Piper Halliwell's father, aren't you?" Dan said, even as he realised it.

Victor's eyes widened. "You know her?"

Dan nodded. "Uh, yeah. All of the Halliwell girls, actually… I just visited them yesterday to catch up. I-" He paused, awkwardly. "I only just heard about Prue. I'm so sorry for your loss."

A flash of pain filtered across Victor's face. "Yeah. It was—unexpected."

Dan was sorry he'd reminded Victor of the pain. "Uh-"

"Oh, right. Your freezer," Victor said. "If we can get it to the lift, that's half the battle over, right?"

They spent a very companionable ten minutes, heaving the small freezer to the lift, and then into Dan's apartment, chatting quietly about the girls. Dan admitted to being an old boyfriend, and to losing out to Leo, and they bonded over their dislike of the man. When Victor suggested having a drink at his apartment, it wasn't hard for Dan to say yes.

Dan shuffled awkwardly on the sofa as Victor passed him a bottle of freshly opened Stella.

"You don't mind drinking out the bottle, do you?" Victor asked easily, settling onto a chair. He noticed Dan's shuffling on the couch. "Uh, sorry about Lumpy. He's a little old."

"Lumpy?"

"The couch."

"I've sat on worse," Dan said, laughing. Victor grinned back at him. "You named your couch, though?"

"Oh, it wasn't me, it was-" Victor managed to finish his sentence, in a gurgled sort of fashion, when the object of his sentence orbed into the middle of the sitting room "-Chris!"

"Hey," Chris said, looking half-drunk. "Uh, Paul poisoned Piper with an evil-making potion, and it's affected me too. Aunt Phoebe's kicked me out, and told me to sleep it out here." He pouted cantankerously. "As if calling her a pixie was _annoying_. I only called her it forty-seven times. It's the hair-cut, dude, I tell you. Totally weird. No wonder she grows it long again in the future. Hey, Grandpa, are you having a heart attack?" Chris prodded the surprised Victor a little. "'cause I can't heal fully, and we'd have to call Leo down, and boy do I not want to do that-"

"Chris-" Victor managed to splutter, gesturing at Dan with his beer. Unfortunately, the still quite befuddled Chris took it to mean _have some of my beer_.

Chris looked disgusted. "Eww, man, that stuff's _gross_," he complained.

"CHRIS!" Victor bellowed. Chris winced, as if he had a hangover. By the look of things, Dan reasoned, he probably _did_. "We have a _guest_!"

Chris turned around slowly and blinked at Dan. "Oh. Hey, Dan," he said. "You're on my couch." He bodily picked up a surprised Dan from Lumpy, and promptly collapsed on it.

Dan blinked, and poked Chris in the shoulder. Chris' reply was to snore at him a little bit. "He's asleep," Dan said, arching a look at the surprised Victor.

"You know? About- everything?" Victor said, as Chris began to snore. He frowned. "Never mind. You were over there yesterday, you'll have seen the two Pipers running around. This is weird. He doesn't snore, normally."

"He said something about a potion," Dan suggested helpfully.

"Oh. _Oh_." Victor reached over to the phone and dialled Phoebe. "Hi. Chris just appeared over here… yeah… ahuh… she _did?_... oh. Oh, okay." He rang off. Dan looked at him expectantly. "Apparently Paul has been poisoning Piper's coffee with a potion that makes the drinker turn evil. Paige and Phoebe found out the only way to completely reverse the potion was-" His shoulders twitched with laughter.

"What?" Dan demanded, curious.

"-vodka," Victor finished, laughing. "And lots of it!"

Eyes wide, Dan stared at him, down at the snoring Chris, and then started to snigger too. "You planning to go over there tomorrow?" Dan asked.

Victor nodded, barely able to restrain his mirth enough to stop laughing. "Uh, yeah. Guess I'd better go with sleeping beauty over there. I don't know if they can orb if hung-over."

"I might come with you," Dan admitted. "The idea of _two_ Piper's, hung-over and in the same few metres of each other…"

It was a long while until they stopped laughing.

* * *

Paul put his head down as he tramped down the long tunnel down to Yenene's lair in order to return the vial he'd just emptied into Piper's coffee. The potion had already been taking effect. He hoped Wyatt would be happy.

As he rounded the corner to the bulbous almost scientific lab, he was expecting to see Yenene already there to take it. Instead, she was sat on one of the desks, her arms crossed across her expansive chest, and she was scowling.

"You messed up, boy," Yenene growled.

Paul blinked furiously at her. "What do you mean?"

"They know," she said, tiredly. Paul froze.

"They know what?" He asked.

"About the potion," Yenene said.

Paul blinked a few more times for good measure. "But I only just put a fresh lot _in_," he complained.

"Well, you messed up," Yenene said.

Paul realised he wasn't going to really get much more out of this conversation. "Bet my older brother wasn't too pleased when he found out about that," he said instead, reluctantly.

"No, your older brother was not."

Paul felt the chill creep up his spine, and restrained the violent shiver that wanted to break out. "Hello, Wyatt," Paul said casually as Wyatt stepped out from behind one of the crags.

"You don't sound surprised to see me," Wyatt commented. "Even though you know, as well as I, that time projections cannot go this far underground."

"It's because _you_ got sloppy," Paul said. "You know, as well as I, that time projections cannot leave physical remains, and yet you left your footprints on the sand."

"Well, perhaps we have _both_ been foolish," Wyatt acquiesced with a slight inclination of his head. "Yenene, you may go."

"But it's _my_ hole-" she started to protest. Wyatt turned his gaze upon her, and Paul enjoyed a quiet second of superiority. He knew from experience that _no one_ could survive that gaze for long. Staring at Wyatt for any length of time inevitably gave one the feeling of falling, along with the accompanying sensation that there would _not_ be a soft landing at the end of it all. "Fine," she snapped as she bustled from the cave. "I'm getting paid, else I'd complain some more."

Wyatt darkly watched her go, and then gestured. A silence barrier crackled around them. "I do not trust that she's left completely," he explained. "You used too much, Paul. It should not have worked that quickly."

Paul knew, but decided to feign ignorance. "I used what she gave me," he said. "Maybe you should have made sure that she didn't give me so much."

Wyatt ignored the tone of petulance in Paul's voice. "Be that as it may," he said tiredly. "I have my own plan of actions for this time to pursue. I need you to proceed to the previous plan of action."

Paul's eyes grazed along Wyatt's face, searching for some way to back out and finding none. "I shall have Paige attacked tomorrow," he promised.

Wyatt's eyes, if it were at all possible, turned evil colder. "See that she is," he said, with a cold menace born of much practise.

Paul nodded as Wyatt orbed away, and his eyes were downcast as he walked back out of the cave, and past a muttering Yenene back on her way in. He had to find a way out of this… He needed Paige alive, although he could never explain to Wyatt why. The only problem now, with Wyatt now hounding his every move, was _how_…

**

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**


	20. Chapter the Twentieth

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry" Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day. No songs used in this fanfic belong to me, either.

* * *

**Chapter The Twentieth

* * *

**

Chris was still holding his head and glaring at Victor and Dan viciously as they approached the manor. Victor had decided the fresh air would do Chris' hangover good. Chris had decided they'd chosen to walk so that they could mock him some more.

"It's not funny," Chris moaned for the tenth time as they rounded the corner and started up the steps. "I've never drunk that much before in my _life_."

"Well, you know, that's something we can remedy when you're born," Victor said cheerfully, and a little loudly. Chris winced at the volume.

"There's a thought," Dan said, "isn't alcohol dangerous for women as pregnant as Piper… is?"

Chris wrinkled his nose. "Well, it hasn't harmed me too much yet, has it?" He asked. "Anyway, it's the dangerous part of alcohol that works as the agent to counteract the harmful effects of the potion."

"I think the hangover's wearing off," Victor informed Dan darkly. "He's spouting technobabble."

"Excuse me, do I _look_ like I'm from Star Trek?" Chris returned sourly. He stared at the door. "Man, there's a door there." He blinked at it.

"How come he's drunk _and_ hung over all at the same time?" Dan queried, reaching past Chris and knocking on the door.

"_Just a minute_!"

The three men stared at the door and it was opened by a very grumpy Piper, holding something against her head. She scowled at them. "Oh, you brought Mr. Cheerful back," she grouched.

"Bite me!" Chris retorted.

"Where?"

Victor grabbed Chris' arm and dragged him through the door, past Piper. "He's still a little drunk," he explained swiftly.

"They _all_ are," Paige's voice floated down to them from up the stairs, and she hurried down with a disgruntled look on her face. "I told Phoebe she overdid it, but _noooo_…"

"I was worried, okay?" Phoebe protested. She was sat next to Pippa, putting a wet cloth on her forehead.

Chris leaned over and smirked at Piper. "_But nowwww, there's nowhere to hiiiide_," he sang, mockingly. Victor was surprised, Chris had a great voice, but he was a little confused as to why Chris was singing at Piper. "_Since you pushed my love asiiide_…"

"If I wasn't so pregnant, I'd bust your ass right now," Piper warned Chris as she bustled past him to collapse into one of the armchairs.

"_I'm out of my head… Hopelessly devoooooteed to youuuu!"_

"Chris, I cannot use my powers on you-"

"-_hopelesssly devvvooootttteeeddd-"_

_­­_"-but I'm pretty sure my powers will work-"

"­-_to youuuu_-"

"-on your PANTS if you don't shut up NOW!"

Chris shut up, but not without folding his arms and pouting first.

"You're no _fun_," he whinged.

"I thought he was going to stay at yours until this wore _off_," Phoebe hissed.

"I tried," Victor said, "but he went on and on about how we've only got twenty-seven days…"

Paige nodded. "Yeah, the deadlines coming close but he's absolutely no good like this. None of them are."

"The potion affected Pippa too, then?" Dan asked.

"Yep," Paige said. "Although I tried my healing on her, but I only got a spark out and she fell asleep. It's a good thing. Chris kept yelling at her not to let anything slip." Her mouth twisted into a wry expression. "He's neurotic even when drunk."

Chris leant over and poked Paige in the shoulder. "He_yy_, I resemble that remark."

"Sure you do," Paige said, grabbing onto Chris by the shoulders and steering him backwards into a chair.

"You're my teacher in the future," Chris dryly informed her, before hiccoughing.

Paige pulled a face. "Yeah? Well, then, detention for you, mister!"

"Oh, _maaannn_," Chris said, before hiding his face in the side of the chair.

"That's it, I'm calling back-up," Paige said grimly, exchanging a look with Phoebe. "LEO! LEO!"

"Aw, man what did you want to go and do something like _that_ for?" Chris protested lurching up and wincing as Leo orbed into the room.

"Blessed be, girls," Leo said softly, and then looked around the room. Piper was sitting at a distinct angle on one of the chairs, Chris was screwing his face up, Pippa was still being attended to by Phoebe, and Dan and Victor were finding it hard to keep a straight face. "What's happened?"

Paige took charge of the situation. "Paul poisoned Piper's coffee with the same potion Cole used to turn Phoebe all Queen of the Damned," she said grimly. "We used vodka to counter it, but now…" She gestured helplessly. "And we're on a deadline, here."

"I'm not really allowed to use my powers to heal hang-overs," Leo said, his brow drawn with worry.

"You're not," Paige said. "You're healing a sneaky attack by an evil dude from the future. We need them operating fully, and not caterwauling songs from _Grease_."

Leo looked at her.

"Don't ask," Paige said quickly.

Sighing, Leo walked over to Piper, who gave him the evil eye. However, as Piper's drunken "evil eye" was pretty much the same as her normal confused expression, the effect was lost to Leo. He put his hands over her, and a golden glow spattered over her face.

Piper blinked, as if just waking up, and then her eyes widened in astonishment. "Oh. My. God," she enunciated. "Please, please, please tell me I did not put the lampshade on my head and-"

"-perform all of Sandy's numbers?" Paige finished for her. "Yep. I see now why you don't get pregnant women drunk."

Piper abruptly looked panicked and held onto her stomach protectively. "The baby-"

"-is fine," Leo said, after a quick sideways glance at Chris, who clearly irked at the attention.

"Oh _god_," Piper said.

Leo briskly healed Pippa, who to his surprise had a black eye, and then healed Chris. He tried his best not to glower in a manly fashion at Dan, reminding himself that he did _not_ have a real place in the household any more.

Chris immediately smacked himself in the forehead, and immediately went over to Phoebe. "Oh, god, I'm so sorry," he said, clearly distraught. "I didn't mean to call you a pixie, honest."

Phoebe wrinkled her nose, but smiled anyway. "It's fine. You were completely off-your-head." She looked at him suspiciously. "How did you get drunk so quickly? You had loads less alcohol than Piper."

"Uhhh," Chris said, not wanting to say that, effectively, he got double the amount through his present-time self sitting in Piper's womb. "I never really drank much before," he said, with a shrug. "There's not much time for it in the future, where Wyatt turns evil, you know? Some time in the next twenty-seven days, so let's stop feeling sorry for ourselves and start vanquishing!"

He started to move briskly towards the dining room table, to the Map.

"Wait a second," Paige said quietly. Chris turned. "We've still got to deal with this reality television deal. It might not be what turns Wyatt, but there's still witches going missing from it, and it still might be the demons behind it that turn him. Just 'cause we're going with the whole _friend_ angle doesn't mean we should abandon the _demon _angle-"

"I agree," Chris said, "which is why we're going to-"

_SMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!_

The door crunched inwards, and the falling timber knocked Victor and Dan to the ground. In the doorway stood three rather large threatening demons, at least seven foot tall, solidly built, with black shimmering skin and red spikes on their bulbous heads that looked like they had a stegosaurus on their heads.

"DIE WITCHES!" One of them bellowed, and they started shooting red spikes from weird projections on their elbows. Paige squeaked and launched herself across the hall, grabbing onto Dan and Victor's prone bodies and orbing them out of range of the spike attacks.

"Stegoflails!" Chris bellowed, as Piper and Pippa scurried around the corner to hide behind the couch. Phoebe had levitated to the ceiling, and had made it to the relative safety of the conservatory, away from the thudding spikes. Chris orbed out of the way of a particularly large spike. "Their spikes are poisonous, be careful!"

"How do we vanquish them?" Paige bellowed from upstairs. One of the Stegoflails tried to advance past the doorway, and Piper managed to move her hands up high enough to blast at them. It didn't vanquish them, but it was enough to keep them back.

Chris edged around the sitting room wall and was using his telekinesis to smash back as many spikes as he could. "They're on the Map," he said, "there's a vanquishing spell there."

"I'll get it," Paige said grimly, "you deflect the spiky things."

Chris nodded, and concentrated on deflecting the spikes whistling through the air towards the dining room as Paige orbed down, swiped the Map, and orbed away.

Her voice was loud as she yelled the spell. "Stegoflails with poisoned blood, deadly spikes of bone and wood, I call upon our heritage, and end within you all life's dregs."

A deadly piercing wail filled the air, and the three demons exploded. Along with them, several large chunks of dislodged timber smashed to the ground. Coughing from the dust and debris everywhere, they all scurried out of their hiding places to assess the damage.

Paige picked up one of the large pieces of banister that had been smashed away, and looked at it dubiously. "Great," she said, sarcasm thick as they all looked at each other. "Cleaning up destruction. My _favourite_ hobby," she deadpanned.

"Anyone hurt?" Leo asked.

The girls shook their head.

"Only bruises from this end," Victor said, as Dan nodded his agreement. "I think we'll live."

"Oh, such a _pity_."

They all turned to the broken in doorway as Paul gingerly stepped through. He had a callous look on his pale face, and he moved with the grace of a jaguar, stalking its dying prey.

"I was hoping maybe for at _least_ a couple of broken bones," Paul said casually, stepping over a pile of broken bricks and planks. "You really haven't put on a good show for those watching, have you?"

"You mean you're working for _Witch Wars_?" Phoebe questioned, dirt streaked down her face.

"Hardly," Paul said, with a sniff. "I serve under a higher power." He looked pointedly at Chris for a second, who blinked. "I wish I could stay around and chat, guys, but I simply can't. I've just popped in to kill Paige, then I'll be right out of here."

"Kill-" Paige's mouth opened, and she snapped it shut. She clenched one hand around the piece of banister that she was holding, and held it like a sword. "Like to see you try," she said, fiercely.

"All right," Paul said, calmly, and brought up his hand. His hand twitched. Nothing happened. His eyes narrowed, and he looked directly at Chris, his face suddenly open. "_A little help!"_ He hissed angrily at Chris. Chris' eyes narrowed, and then his mouth sagged a little, as if he understood. They watched bewilderedly as Paul made a bigger gesture with his hand, and Chris made an unobtrusive smaller one with his left hand. Paige's arm smashed backwards into the stairs.

"Oh dear," Paul said, a little loudly, as if he was projecting his voice so it could be heard outside. "I missed. Well, well, I guess I'll have to run. The witch you fights and runs away, etc. etc. Ta-ta."

With that Paul orbed languidly away. Paige turned on Chris angrily.

"What the hell did you do that for!" She demanded, irately.

"Shut up!" Chris commanded. He waved his arm around them, and a silence barrier crackled into life. Leo's eyes were wide as he recognised the magic. "Oh, my god!" He grinned, looking suddenly happy. Happier even when he realised that Pippa was alive.

"What?" Piper demanded irately.

"Paul's powers didn't work against Paige," Chris said. "He's never been able to focus them that well, anyway. His powers didn't _work_," he repeated, happily.

"How could that be?" Paige demanded, rubbing her arm gingerly. "Yours did!"

"I used my powers on the bit of wood you were holding," Chris said dismissively. "I can direct my powers better than Paul ever could." His eyes were shimmering with a restrained sort of happiness. "But don't you _see_…"

Chris' face was alight with hope, for the first time since they'd ever seen him. The expression unsettled Piper.

"See _what_?" Piper asked plaintively.

"Paul's power couldn't work against Paige," Chris said, as if it was completely obvious, "because good witches can't use their powers on other good witches."

**

* * *

**


	21. Chapter the Twentyfirst

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

* * *

**Chapter The Twenty-first**

**

* * *

**

"Well, that's ridiculous," Paige was still sulking as she set up the glamour to hide the destruction from their neighbours, thankful for the zillionth time that they weren't the nosy sort. "Someone good wouldn't do all that. And why the fuss?"

Chris made a face at her. "I've put down the silence barrier," he hissed. "But-" He looked edgily around, and then moved over a large pile of debris, wincing at the number of poison-coated spikes littering the floor, to the table. He ripped a piece of paper off one of the notepads that had survived the attack, and, scrambling for a pen, wrote in big letters:

HE'S BEING WATCHED.

He held it up, and Paige nodded slowly. "I see. By-"

"Uh-uh-uh. Ix-nay on the alk-tay," Chris muttered.

"You've been taking lessons from Phoebe," Paige grouched as she hopped over the pile of discarded spikes that Victor and Dan were pulling out from the wall while wearing _very_ thick gloves. She took the pen from him.

_BY WHO?_

SOMEONE HIGH UP ON WYATT'S CHAIN OF COMMAND.

_WHAT IF IT IS WYATT?_

Chris slowly took the pen away, and looked at her heavily. "We'd really better hope that's not the case," he said slowly, laying the paper down. Pippa leant over and took the paper, and her eyes widened, and she passed it to Piper.

"Wouldn't it be a _good_ think if You-Know-Who was here?" Piper questioned.

Phoebe peeked around the corner. "You-Know-_Who_?" She blanched. "The Harry Potter books are _real?_"

"No, no, no," Piper muttered, leaning over the back of the sofa to hand Phoebe the paper. Phoebe looked at it softly.

"Oh. _That_ you-know-who," she said.

Orb lights spilled down, and Chris jumped visibly, relaxing when he saw it was only Leo.

"It's official," Leo said. "Those Stegoflails were from this timeline."

"So if he's- you know- how come he's recruiting demons to kill us?" Paige demanded.

"Maybe he's not," Phoebe offered. "Maybe someone else did it for him."

"Or maybe whoever is watching him is watching him so closely that he _can't_ do anything wrong," Piper suggested. "Maybe he has to keep pretending he's evil."

"SHUT UP!" Chris bellowed. Everyone stopped working to look at him, and he blushed sheepishly at the attention. "Look, I'm sorry, but if anyone is hiding anything, well, it's been hidden well so far – so doesn't he deserve for his secret _not _to be blown?"

The girls looked at him apologetically.

"You have a point there, Chris," Victor said in a semi-taunting sing-song voice. "Why, it sounds almost as if it's up to_ him_ to tell any secrets he has, just in case it gets revealed inadvertently."

Chris shot him a soft warning look.

"Okay, _that_ was a very loaded sentence," Piper commented, eyeing them all darkly.

Chris shot her a dark look, and then inexplicably walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

"He does that a _lot_," Paige commented. "All right, who's going to play fetch today and go get Chris?"

"I will," Leo said softly, worry plain on his face as he picked his way across the cluttered floor and headed to the door.

* * *

Leo was expecting a fight of some sort to try and get Chris to open up, but as soon as approached Chris, Chris sank down onto the low wall and folded his arms. 

"I guess you're going to tell me to tell them too," Chris said, his voice low and his face meticulously blank of any expression. Chris was staring at some imaginary spot in the horizon, and Leo joined him on the wall, staring at the same spot in mid-air, and abruptly glad that he hadn't worn his Elder robes down.

They would probably get some weird stares as it was, but Leo didn't have the time to think on that. He had to deal with his number one priority right now – his sons.

"Well, I can't deny that I don't think it would do any harm," Leo said evenly, "but I can see why you wouldn't want to."

"What do you mean?"

"It's got to be hard," Leo said reasonably. "And I suppose it would be easier not to let things slip if you're emotionally distanced from them."

Chris smiled ruefully. "I wish it were that easy," he said. "Everything- everything's changing. Everything that I thought I knew. But the future- it still sucks. There have been some awful deaths that I _wish_ could have mistaken – Piper and Paul I _am_ grateful for – but… It's just…"

Chris seemed unable to get the words out, and he edged a look at Leo, his sea-green eyes grazing Leo's face. Leo was stung by the haunted look on Chris' face.

"You have your mom back and you can't even let them know she _is_ your mom," Leo said softly. "And you're angry at her."

"Fuck you!" Chris turned angrily away, and resumed staring into the distance. His fists clenched in his lap, and he hung his head. Hair fell over his face, obscuring any expression from Leo.

"And you're angry at Paul, too," Leo said reasonably.

"Where do you get _off_?" Chris demanded incredulously. He lifted his face up, which had reddened considerably, and he glared at Leo as if he'd like nothing better than to rip his head off. "How can you _say_ those things? You don't know any of it! Any of us…"

"Maybe this time round-" Leo started hopefully, inwardly knowing that the fight was probably going to start now.

"_Bull_shit," Chris said harshly.

The words felt like a sheer physical slap, and Leo glanced up at him as if winded.

"And you're angry at me," Leo finished.

"God, you're so _full_ of yourself!" Chris yelled, getting to his feet and turning to face Leo. The sun blazed behind his head, spinning an iridescent halo of rage around his angered features. "You always think you know _everything_, but you don't- you're just a pig-headed, stubborn, stupid-arsed git who ruins _everything_, who goes and _gets himself killed_ when we needed you the most!"

Leo stunned by the words, got to his feet. He saw the physical pain in Chris' eyes, and it fell through him, like his heart had fallen into his stomach. "Chris-"

"You don't know _anything_!" Chris screamed, and flung himself at Leo, hitting him forcibly with his fists. Leo was expecting it to hurt, but it didn't. "You don't know _anything_!" With hot tears scalding his face, Chris buried his face in Leo's shirt, still weakly hitting him, and, in sudden abrupt understanding, Leo folded Chris closer and let him cry out his rage, making soft shushing sounds and hugging him like he was his last link to humanity.

Leo didn't know how he managed it, but he managed to sink back down onto the wall and lower Chris gingerly down next to him. "I died sometime after you thought Wyatt had murdered Piper," Leo said. Chris slowly opened his eyes, and looked up in shame. He turned away. Leo put one hand on Chris' shoulder and turned him back. "You have every right to be mad at me."

"Don't _tell_ me what I can and can't feel!" Chris said. "I've already screwed up so much-They know too much as it is. I can't tell _any_ of you any more. I _can't_."

"Why?" Leo asked, going for it even though he knew Chris was likely to yell at him some more. It was this cocky arrogance that made him not so hugely popular against the Elders. _Sometimes you have to fly in the face of what's wrong_.

"Because-" Chris gestured with his hands as words failed him. He sighed, and looked down at the ground. "I can't, all right?"

"I doubt you even know now," Leo said, ignoring the fact that Chris had not denied the fact that he was going to die. "You don't have a clue _why_ you can't tell them."

Chris looked up, lost. "I do," he said. "I just can't put it in words."

"Because you're scared they'll hate you. That they won't be proud of who you grew up to without them."

Chris was silent, and his eyes scanned the floor as if looking for something. "I guess," he admitted, his voice gruff, his eyes slightly bloodshot. "They will hate me. I- I- left Paul for dead. I _left_ him. And I couldn't stop him from actually killing-" Chris came to a sudden full-stop. "There," he said, with a bitter self-irony, "I'm doing it again. Saying too much."

Leo hated the bitterness in Chris' voice, and blamed himself for it. He'd obviously not been there for his son. His son who had needed him. Not only had he failed Wyatt, but he was going to fail Chris too. "You need to open up to someone," Leo said softly. "It doesn't have to be me."

Chris' mouth twitched a little at the edge. "-_you_, okay?" His voice was gruff, and broken, and Chris coughed slightly as if saying the words had hurt his throat. "You were going to be there, for the first time in ever, and I couldn't- I couldn't do _anything._ And not even because Wyatt had done anything to me."

He laughed, but it was a chilling sound.

"No," Chris continued, "I was frozen all by myself. I hadn't been able to help mom or- or Paul- and when Wyatt went for Mel, you defended her all by yourself, and you yelled at me to _do_ something, but I couldn't _move_, and then-" He closed his eyes, and shivered violently, as if reliving the pain.

Leo felt a rush of hate inside him, and wanted to take that pain away.

"Then he killed you both." A very self-hating smile slid onto Chris' face, and he shook his head slowly, as if in complete disbelief. "Definitely no mistaking that death." He opened his eyes, but his eyes were blank. "I failed you. I failed everyone."

"No!" Leo blurted.

"How can you _know?_" Chris demanded incredulously. "You weren't there. I can hope you won't be, but we don't know, and I'm self-indulgently having a fucking breakdown in the _middle_ of it all!"

"Chris, how old were you when it happened?"

Chris turned unbelieving eyes to his father. "What, do you think I'm going to tell you _that_? That's the worst thing of _all_ to tell someone, when fate wanted them dead in one timeline, 'cause even if we stop Wyatt turning- you could still-" Chris stopped, as if choking on the words.

"How old," Leo repeated, his eyes glinting dangerously. "I won't tell the others. You have my word."

Chris sighed, and fidgeted as if going through some great internal debate, and sighed again. "I was fourteen, okay?" He turned his face away bitterly.

"-and you're single-handedly holding yourself responsible for our deaths?" Leo demanded. "God, you _were_ a presumptuous kid, weren't you!"

Chris looked at him angrily. "What the hell do you mean by _that_?"

"Chris, you were _fourteen_. At that age, yeah, it's your fault if the toaster blows up, or you set a rug on fire, or play truant or drink, or _anything_ like that. That's the level of responsibility for a teenager! But to take on the safety of the _whole_ family onto yourself?" Leo shook his head. "You get that magnitude of worrying from your mother, I'll tell you that right now."

"Wyatt destroyed the family all by himself," Chris said quietly, looking sour and resentful. "And how did you know about the toaster, anyway?"

Leo rolled his eyes at Chris' sarcasm. "Look, Chris. If anyone failed, it was me. I've failed Wyatt, and I've failed you too. No- don't try and deny it," he said quickly, as Chris made to flinch quietly, "it's _true_."

"Yeah, well maybe we're both screw-ups," Chris muttered.

"I am, but you're not," Leo said simply. Chris turned to him with an angry look, a _you're not listening to me_ look. "You came all this way to _stop_ that future. Not just one of the murders that Wyatt commits, but _all_ of them. I meant what I said the other day, I am proud of you. I may have no right to be, but I am."

Colour swept into Chris' eyes, replacing the blank and hollow look that had been haunting them for the last ten minutes. "You don't have any right to be," Chris said, somewhat unsteadily. "You weren't there," he added, somewhat abruptly. "You had time for everyone else, but never me. That's why I hate you." Chris didn't try and soften the impact. "And that's what you have to try and fix this time round."

Chris got up and started to walk away, as if his outburst had never happened, as if his entire conversation hadn't meant a thing. Leo studied the retreating back of his future son, his angular shoulders, his slightly hunched back as if hiding himself from the world, and for the first time in a while felt a small rush of hope inside of him. _Maybe the future isn't quite so doomed after all…_

**

* * *

**


	22. Chapter the Twentysecond

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day. No songs used in this fanfic belong to me, either.

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**Chapter The Twenty-second**

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"Okay, that was the most pathetic attempt _ever_."

Paul tried to avoid looking Wyatt directly in the eyes. "So maybe I wasn't feeling one hundred percent happy with doing it."

"Yeah, well, you know the price," Wyatt said easily. "Now Mel's not one _hundred_ percent happy with where _she_ is."

"You son of a _bi_-"

Wyatt was laughing. "Oh, come _on_, Paul. Piper's your mother too."

Paul glared at him in mutinous silence.

"That's two plots that have failed, both with you at the helm," Wyatt mused thoughtfully. "Strange, don't you think?"

"God, well why don't you fucking try it yourself?" Paul demanded, anger colouring his voice.

"Temper, temper!" Wyatt drawled, getting to his feet and brushing sand off his pants. "Maybe I will. You just watch and see how it's done."

Wyatt orbed away, and Paul stared at the spot where Wyatt had just been standing.

Then he felt like hitting himself when he realised what he'd just done. He'd set Wyatt on them, and he wouldn't deliberately try to fail…

Paul decided to throw caution to the wind. _I'm so sorry, Melinda_. But he couldn't afford for Paige to die. If Paige died, there'd be no Power of Three, and then his Aunt Phoebe would be more vulnerable to attack. And if Phoebe died, no more Melinda. _And if Paige died…_

He threw away the selfish though, and orbed.

Right into the sitting room of the manor. He smiled weakly at the shocked looks he was getting from Piper, Pippa, Paige, Phoebe, Chris, Leo, Victor and Dan.

"Uh," Paul said weakly. "I'm back?"

* * *

"Okay, conference time!" Paige had instantly hustled Leo, Piper, Pippa and Phoebe out of the room, leaving Paul under the guidance of Chris, Victor and Dan. "Do you think we can trust him?"

"His powers didn't work against you," Pippa said stubbornly. "So it _proves_ he's good. And if he's being watched, that's why he did the bad things."

"Yeah, but you have to think those things, you're his mother," Phoebe said softly, her brown eyes peering around the corner to where Paul was gingerly sitting. "I can't feel anything from him, but he'll have probably drunk a suppressing potion already. With me as his aunt, it's very likely."

"I say we give him a chance," Piper said, her eyes flickering into the sitting room, and then back to the group. "We just keep an eye on him. He's my son," she said, her voice wavering slightly. "And he could have easily killed you, Paige, if he'd wanted to. We all know it."

Paige bristled slightly. "I know. I just don't trust him. There's something he's hiding."

"What, like Chris?" Phoebe questioned briefly. "Chris is hiding a lot from us, and we trust him."

"He's done a lot more to protect Wyatt," Leo defended automatically.

"_You're_ being awfully defensive of him," Piper said accusingly.

Leo looked at her awkwardly. "I trust him, is all," he said offhandedly. "He's been through a lot to get here in a position to help us."

"I'm just worried about what got him to snap and turn to us so suddenly," Pippa said, her older face creased fretfully. "He must have been… assisting Wyatt… for a reason."

"Well, why don't we ask him?" Paige said brusquely, pushing past them and into the sitting room. "Paul, okay, we get that you're a good witch and all. But what happened to make you come to us _now_?"

Paul sank onto one of the soft footstools, and sighed. "Because I accidentally managed to goad Wyatt into making an attempt on your life," he said simply, looking at Paige heavily. Paige got the impression he was looking at her as if she was a ghost, and it unnerved her. "I was supposed to kill you, but I couldn't. As for _now…_" He sighed, heavily. "Wyatt has my cousin Melinda in custody, and has been threatening to kill her if I step out of line. Melinda was the only real family I thought I had left."

"Oh, my god," Pippa breathed, sinking to a couch and looking at Paul hard. "You've been doing this to protect her-"

"Of course I have," Paul snapped angrily, his eyebrows curving high in astonishment. "Yeah, I guess it's _easy_ to think that once _Wyatt_ has turned, the rest of us could easily well turn too!"

"I didn't mean it like that!" Pippa retorted. "Baby, you _know_ I didn't."

Paul's face softened slowly. "I… I know. It's just—" Paul frowned suddenly. "Chris?"

At the sound of his name, Chris looked at Paul slowly. The others saw that Chris was shaking, and pale, and knew this was what had caused Paul to say his name. "The son of a-" Chris stopped and caught himself before he finished that. "Paul, Melinda's dead. I saw that." He shook his head slowly. "There was _no_ way I could mistake that death," he said, his words reminiscent of his earlier conversation with Leo.

Paul shook his head, hard. "I don't understand."

"Then see," Chris said simply. The others exchanged confused looks as Chris got to his feet and blankly held his hand forth to Paul.

Paul stared at Chris' hand as if it was just about to explode.

"Go on," Chris said, his voice and eyes cold.

Paul was shaken by the certainty on Chris' face. "No, uh, I-" He paled. "I believe you," he said, his voice shaking, his words broken up as he forced them out.

Just as coldly, Chris stalked back and folded his arms, staring at some point above the fire.

"Er, excuse me, but _how_ could he see it?" Piper question, confused.

"Retrocognition," Pippa said softly in explanation.

"It's one of my passive powers," Chris explained. "I can't receive premonitions, per se, but I can… pass memories on to others."

"The Seer could do that," Phoebe said, her eyes a little wide. "Isn't that an evil power too?"

Chris instantly bristled. "_No_!" He folded his arms and raised his eyebrows. "You're just jealous 'cause you're not the only one with a cognitive power."

Phoebe opened her mouth to speak, and shut it. "Humph. Well."

Pippa was laughing soundlessly. Phoebe glared at her.

"What's so funny?"

"You had that same expression when he _developed _that power," Paul said smoothly, sniggering a little himself.

Phoebe narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "How long have we actually _known_ Chris?" She demanded.

"Dude, are you kidding?" Paul blurted, before Chris walked over and gave him a friendly smack in the arm.

"They don't _know_, stupid," Chris hissed. "So _shut up_."

Paul started to laugh. "And you've been here, what, over a _year_ and they still don't know? Dude, I'm impressed."

"Well it's not like I'm related to Wyatt like the rest of you ingrates," Chris muttered, lying brazenly, a little loudly, and with a distinct look of panic in his eyes.

"Ohh, yeah," Paul said, and he sounded a little strange. "Moving on. Wyatt's not going to be pleased with my little escape."

"And Wyatt- he's here? Future Wyatt, I mean," Piper questioned. She shuffled as if to get comfortable, and winced down at her bump. "_Great_ timing."

"Here's a thought," Paige said, sounding a little disturbed. "What if future Wyatt is the _one_ who turns this Wyatt?"

They all turned to Pippa, who was chewing her lower lip thoughtfully. "It's possible," she admitted, "although in our timeline neither Wyatt, Chris _nor_ Paul came back to the past, so if that's the case, my timeline's future Wyatt came back very surreptitiously."

"That's how he works," Chris said, and then jumped when he realised Paul had said it at the same time. The two eyeballed each other warily.

"He _would _be a friend who is not a friend," Phoebe said speculatively. "In the vaguest of readings of the phrase…"

"Since when has fortune telling _ever_ been really clear?" Paige said.

"But the whole surreptitious thing…" Paul rested his elbows on his knees, and put his chin in his hands. "Whatever Wyatt will do will be very subtle. He doesn't normally go for big-"

_WHAM!_

The house shook.

"I think you spoke too soon!" Chris yelled, as a loud roaring filled the air.

_WHAM!_

Looking fearfully at each other, Chris was the first one to move, gingerly skidding around the corner to see what was attacking the house. Not wanting to take any chances, he gestured with one hand to open the door, knowing he could always blame the breeze if there was a logical explanation for the sounds.

It turned out there _was_ rather a logical explanation for the sounds, for as soon as Chris opened the door, an eight foot ogre with a club ran in roaring and smacked him unconscious.

* * *

"Oh, god, I feel like a thousand smurfs decided to have a party in my head," Chris groaned as he woke up. He could feel a tingling heat through him, and Leo's eyes on him, and knew he'd needed to be healed.

Raising his head, he looked around to survey the damage. There were a few large holes in the wall and a smashed table, and a scorch mark on the floor.

Leo helped him to his feet, and Chris was proud of himself for managing a courteous nod to the guy.

"He was from Witch Wars," Phoebe said, quietly. "He kept yelling about how he was going to smash us up, right on TV."

"TV?" Chris blinked. "We're on… TV… now?" He looked around, as if actually expecting to see a demonic camera crew running around.

"I'm guessing there's some kind of cameras," Paige said, looking around, picking up different objects.

"Well, there's one way to find out," Paul said softly. He ignored Chris' "_what?_" and went hunting for a pen and paper. He scrawled something on it gently, and then passed it to him, with his hands shielding the words. Chris understood. If they were being watched, then anyone could see what they were writing.

Chris bent over the note, and nodded slowly. _Go underground and watch the thing_.

"I'll go," Chris offered, orbing away and screwing up the note as he went.

It was only ten minutes later that Chris was back. He purposefully walked past a surprised Phoebe into the kitchen, and came out with one of the large hammers that they'd been fixing the earlier damage to the house.

Piper opened his mouth to say something as he strode in, but he held a finger up to his mouth, and then methodically walked over to the mantelpiece.

_CRASH!_

"Chris!" Piper yelled. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Chris tossed her a wry look, and walked over to the piano, smashing something on that, too, and then he walked over to the doorway and smashed something by there.

_CRASH!_

"I just destroyed the three cameras that are definitely in this room," he said evenly, if a little quiet. "It's on a live feed, and it kept switching between those three views. I don't know if I got all of them, but I know what to look out for, now." He held out a black crystal, which was a strange cuboid shape. "You can tell it's transmitting if it shimmers."

Chris passed the "camera" over to Piper, who turned it over in his hand. He turned to look at Paul. "And I'd bet a large-sized amount of money, if I _had _any, to say that Wyatt knows of your betrayal."

Paul nodded, especially worried at Chris' low look of concern. Chris didn't add out loud the other thing that was worrying him.

If Wyatt knew, through _Witch Wars_, that Paul had turned, Wyatt would also know that the family didn't know who he was. And if Chris didn't tell his family soon who he was… he was positive that Wyatt would _gladly_ do it for him…

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	23. Chapter the Twentythird

**Neurotic**

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Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

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**Chapter the Twenty-Third**

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Gideon was preoccupied as he swept ominously through the bookcases in the library. This was his last proper day there, and he couldn't even work up the energy to reprimand Sarah as she lazily used her powers to put the books back on the shelf.

Preoccupied, he made the rounds and let his feet wander the course. The Charmed Ones had found out about Witch Wars. He would have to deal with the incompetent demons behind it before they blabbed to the council about his involvement.

It was the son from the future - Paul. He was trouble.

No- there was one thing he could do. Cause a big enough disturbance, to get their minds on something else other than the impending doom that Chris Perry was apparently babbling on about. And he knew just what to do to get their attention - get one of the girls onto a parallel plane, and divert their attention to getting her back.

A smile covered his face, and he walked past a student he didn't even recognise without the rush of guilt that he wouldn't have time to know all of them any more. He had a mission.

The strange student smiled slowly. His dark black eyes were pools of nothingness. Tangled blond hair fell to his shoulders. He peered along the list of books until finding the one he wanted. Wyatt's fingers closed around it, and, looking around to make sure he was unobserved, he orbed out.

Smiling, he looked down at the book and fingered it, letting his fingers run over the engraved words. _"Crossed, double-crossed."_

He allowed himself the small moment of triumph, before orbing away. With one sister down, he could gain his revenge on his traitorous brothers...

* * *

Chris exhaled, and rubbed his hands together. This was so _difficult_. He struggled for the right words. 

"Um. I'm really sorry I didn't tell you this before, but, you know how it is, Piper. Future consequences and all that." He pulled a face, feeling all the awkwardness in his posture and words painfully. "But I'm your son from the future. The good one. The second one, I mean." The second face he pulled was one of disgust. "Man, that's awful!"

Sinking down onto the small stool in the bathroom, he looked up at the mirror in which he'd been practising. This was _not_ going to go well. He supposed it might be easier if he really did want to tell them. But he didn't. Leo had been right when he'd accused him of being scared of telling them.

He wasn't just scared, he was bloody petrified. Having lived for a long time without parents, Chris had gotten painfully used to not having anyone to be proud _or_ disappointed of him. Bianca had given him those things for a brief period, but... now there was a real chance of rejection. Now was the time when he could hear those words every child is deep-down scared of - that their family think that they're worthless.

Chris exhaled hard again, and rose to his feet. He automatically rinsed his hands again, even though he'd already done it once, dried them one of Victor's coarse towels and left the bathroom.

Victor was leaning against the wall, looking at him with an unreadable expression. Chris winced, embarrassed.

"You heard, huh?" Chris said, toeing the ground and staring at his shoes as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

"You've decided to tell them, then," Victor said lightly. "You want me there when you do it?"

Chris nodded heavily. "Yes, please," he said in a very small voice, wretchedness splayed on his face. Victor smiled at him.

"Come on. Let's pick up Dan and go," Victor said. Chris looked a little confused. "After the destruction yesterday, Dan offered to held rebuild the front wall."

"Yeah, he's good at that construction stuff," Chris said absently. Victor blinked at him.

"Is Dan around- a lot- in the future?"

Chris turned to him, his expression confused. "How- _oh_." Chris realised what he'd said. "Um, yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Let me guess. Specifics have been dumped in favour of future secrecy?"

Chris grinned wryly. "Got it in one."

* * *

The phone rang out. Pippa leaned over the counter and grabbed the cordless, whisking batter as she did so. She'd forced her past self to go sit down - Piper hadn't been feeling too well - and they had chuckled a little about the benefits of having two of yourself running around. 

"Hello?" Pippa smiled at the voice on the other end. She listened for a while, nodded, and then - realising no one can see a nod down the phone - said, "Yeah."

"Who is it?" Piper questioned, coming into the kitchen.

Pippa covered the mouthpiece. "Paul," she said. "He wants to know if it's okay to come over for breakfast."

They'd set Paul up on a campbed at P3, knowing the house was a little crowded.

Piper smiled. Her third son apparently had _manners_. Definitely her boy. "Of course," Piper said. "He doesn't have to ask."

"Apparently he's still a little embarrassed that he poisoned your coffee," Pippa said quickly. "I'll tell him he can come. Paul, yeah, it's fine."

No sooner had Pippa pressed disconnect than Paul had orbed into the room. His hair was completely mussed as if he'd not done anything to it when he'd woken up.

_Huh,_ Piper thought, _maybe not _all_ of my influence stuck around, obviously_.

"Look at your _hair_," Pippa said, starting to fuss, and she pulled Paul over. He let out a squeak of surprise, as Pippa pulled a comb from seemingly nowhere and started to attack his hair. Paul winced, but managed a smile at Piper.

"Morning," he said, with a gritted-teeth smile.

"Morning," Piper said, amused, as she sat down on a stool. Pippa let Paul go eventually, after she was satisfied with his hair, and he sank easily onto one of the stools, hooking it in closer to the bench top with one heel.

"How you feeling? My brother not giving you too much grief?" Paul questioned briefly.

"Your brother-" Piper thought he meant Wyatt for a second, and then realised he meant baby number two. "Uh, just the usual kidney shots," she said ruefully. "You know, that's a thought. I don't have a name for him yet. I don't suppose you two feel like dropping a hint or two."

"Sandy," Paul said promptly. "You name him Sandy."

Pippa burst out laughing. "You know if he was here, he'd kill you for that."

Piper watched the easy rapport between the two with jealousy, but with a small kind of happiness swelling inside her that one day she _would_ have it. And with Chris' help, for much longer than they had originally had.

"Aw, Piper, I'm only kidding," Paul said gently. "You really call him Jemimah."

Piper laughed. "Yeah. Wyatt, Jemimah and Paula, my three boys."

Paul started to nod in agreement, until he realised what she'd said. "Hey!"

Piper and Pippa sniggered and high-fived across the counter.

"You want some pancakes, sweetie?" Pippa asked Paul, who nodded eagerly.

"That's like asking me if I want to breathe," Paul said with a very deadpan sarcastic look. Piper recognised that look. It struck something deep down in her, and she shivered involuntarily. She'd seen that look before, but it wasn't on Paul, it was on- A vague memory floated at the edge of her mind. Who had she seen with that expression? _If I could only just _remember!_ Who..._

"I said, would you like some too?" Pippa said, an edge in her voice.

Piper blinked violently, and then realised Pippa had asked her the question three times now. "Yeah. Raisins and-"

"-honey," Pippa finished with a wry grin. "We're sort of the same person, no matter how much that makes my brain-"

"-collapse, painfully," Piper said, finishing Pippa's sentence this time. They shared a brief look of acknowledgement.

"Wyatt would like some honey too, wouldn't you, little fellow?" Piper asked her oldest-but-currently-youngest (if you discounted the baby in her womb, of course) son in the timeline. Wyatt, in his high chair, beamed happily, and Piper mussed his golden curls.

"Aw, you're not putting honey on mine, are you?" Paul said, pulling a face. "I don't mind the raisins, but _honey..._"

"Well, you poisoned us," Pippa said sunnily. Paul scowled. "Your face will stick that way," she cautioned.

"Bite me," Paul grouched.

"Where?" Pippa replied, and the two laughed.

Piper rolled her eyes at them. It was obviously an old joke, and- There was that feeling again, that one of _deja vu_ she'd had when Paul had looked at Pippa sarcastically. There was something she was missing, and now she realised that, something inside her felt... _gone_. It was like there was a tangible hole inside her, a hole that she could fill if only she could just _remember_...

"Phoebe's already gone, hasn't she," Pippa said out loud, and Piper nodded. "I'll just make Paige some, then. Paul, can you call her down?"

"Sure," Paul said, getting off the stool and running out of the room, yelling. "_PAAAAAAAIIIIIGGGGGEEEE!_"

"YELL FOR HER FROM THE TOP OF THE STAIRS!" Pippa bellowed. A squeaked "_sorry!_" came from Paul, and there was the pounding of feet as he ran upstairs for her. Pippa busied herself cooking up a lot of pancakes, while Piper slowly got out some plates, and five minutes later Paul reappeared with a sleepy Paige in tow, still in her pyjamas and dressing gown and rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Yeah, I am _so_ looking forward to having you in the house properly," Paige grouched as she pulled up a stool. The door bell went.

"I'll get it!" Paul yelled, jumping up from his seat and running off.

"Is he _always_ this full of energy?" Piper questioned, watching him go in amazement.

"Yeah," Pippa said ruefully. "Pretty much." She smiled almost dreamily. "He's been like this since he _could_ run, come to think of it."

"Like I said, looking forward to it," Paige quipped, getting some coffee from the pot and sitting back down, blowing at it grouchily.

"It's _granddad and Dan and Chris!"_ Paul bellowed through from the hall.

Paige looked even grumpier and yanked her dressing gown on tighter as the three men in question came around the corner.

"You boys want breakfast?" Pippa asked, unfazed by the number of people in the kitchen. _I would have been_, Piper reflected slowly. _Guess I actually _do_ get to cater for large amounts of people in the future rather than just over-catering for a few_. The thought thrilled her now rather than scaring her.

"We've already eaten," Chris said, speaking for them, but he did glance at the pancakes a little longingly. "I'm going to go grab the Book and write out your assignments for today."

"_Great_," Paige said, deadpan, not looking very thrilled.

"We'll get started on the wall, if you remove the- what did you call it? Glamour- so we can see what we're doing," Victor said. "We just came in to wish you girls good morning." Paul looked at him grumpily for a second. "And boys," he amended swiftly. Paul smiled.

Paige waved, to volunteer herself for glamour-removing duty.

"Where's Phoebe?" Chris asked, as he headed out. Paul seemed to be eating his pancakes with extra relish and with big gestures, obviously trying to goad Chris into something.

"Gone to work already," Piper said. "But still give her _lots_ to do," she added. "I think she skipped out early to avoid the madness."

"I'll orb the list into her office," Chris promised as he disappeared off.

* * *

Phoebe looked around at her newly-tidied desk. Prevaricating was sometimes a whole lot of fun... Smiling to herself that she'd missed Chris' early morning neurotic lecture of things they had to do that day, she pulled out her box of letters to look through for the day's column, and lounged in her chair to read them. 

She pulled out the first one, a plain white envelope with neatly scrawled handwriting. Opening the envelope, she pulled out a single sheet of blue-lined notepaper, and gasped as a premonition hit her.

_Paige, Pippa, Piper, Paul, Chris, and her dad... Surrounded by Darklighters... She knew that place... It was just around the corner from the local IHOP..._

"No!" Phoebe realised she'd yelled out loud, and then flushed sheepishly even though there was no one to hear her. She grabbed her keys, and pelted from her office, glad that none many people were around to witness her undignified exit.

Throwing herself into her car, she put the keys forcefully into the ignition and gunned the engine. Speeding a little, she drove frantically through the early morning rush hour traffic, cursing as she went. She skidded to a halt, and jumped out of the car, her bag banging against her thigh as she ran full speed around the corner.

The alleyway was empty.

Phoebe felt her mouth drop open, and then felt a hint of _something_. She didn't have time to turn around, as something clamped around her mouth, grabbing hold of her. She tried to scream and got a mouthful of demon flesh instead.

Orb lights spilled down, and Phoebe's eyes widened in horror at the figure that walked over to her.

Gideon.

"I'm sorry about this, Phoebe, I truly am," Gideon said softly, waving his arms gently. A portal solidified into the air next to them. Struggling in the demon's grasp, Phoebe tried to elbow it, but just got pain for her trouble.

Her eyes watering, Phoebe felt herself being lifted towards the portal and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Her eyes watered, and she tried throwing out mental screams to her sisters as it was all she could do.

_IT'S GIDEON! HE'S THE FRIEND WHO WILL BETRAY US! HE'S-_

But that was all she managed, as the demon lifted her bodily into the portal and it slammed shut behind her.

* * *

Chris was just adding a little incantation to vanquish Liznots when he felt it, smacking him in the chest like a ton of bricks. _Aunt Phoebe!_ He stretched out with his senses, as quickly as he could manage, to double check what he'd just realised. 

She'd just disappeared from his radar. Meaning, she wasn't on this plane anymore.

Realising that the front of the house was now gaping open, he thudded down the stairs as fast as he could, considering anyone could see him if he orbed down. Breathless, he slammed down into the hallway, panic blazing on his face. "It's Phoebe," he breathed out quickly, harshly. "She's just disappeared from my radar."

"What?" Piper ran into the hallway, accompanied by a now-dressed Paige and Paul. Worry aged her face instantly. "Oh, god. How-"

"- I just sensed her disappearance," Chris said.

"You might want to be quiet for a second," Dan said quickly. They turned in time to see a guy in a brown uniform carrying a parcel coming up the front steps.

Chris looked at the others anxiously, but couldn't do anything, and it was showing in the way he almost danced on the spot in anxiety. _Aunt Phoebe's in trouble!_

"Delivery for Halliwell," the UPS guy said, eyeing the damage warily. Piper plastered a large false smile on her face. Dan quickly took the clipboard and scrawled his name, printed it, took the parcel and smiled at the guy until he rolled his eyes and left.

"Which one of us is it for?" Paige asked curiously, stepping closer to Dan to peer at the parcel.

"It's not marked," Dan said, looking worriedly across at the others. They looked at it fearfully. "I'll open it," he said, worry for the girls clear in his voice. He gingerly opened the package as if it could be a bomb. A book fell out in his hands. "It's just a book," he said, in obvious relief. He'd been expecting the worse as much as everyone else. "Crossed Double-Crossed by the Mullen brothers, see?"

"Let's have a look at that," Paige said softly. Dan didn't quite let go of the book, but Paige still leant over and read the cover again before opening the book and peering at the front page.

Which was exactly when light spilled out from the book and Dan and Paige disappeared, and the book dropped to the floor with a loud thud.

Chris looked from the book, to where they'd been, and back to the book, before sitting down on the stairs in disbelief.

"This is _so_ not cool," he muttered disconsolately.

* * *


	24. Chapter the Twentyfourth

**Neurotic

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Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

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**Chapter The Twenty-Fourth**

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"Is it just me, or is everything in black and white?"

Dan blinked around at the new landscape the magical whirlwind of light had dumped them into. He looked at Paige, who was just as confused as him, and it both reassured him and scared him.

"Uh, no, you're not going colour-blind," Paige reassured him, "unless we're sharing a hallucination."

"Yeah, that's reassuring," Dan said, brushing dust from his jeans distractedly. "But black and white-"

"It's a first for me too," Paige said dazedly, looking around the streets. It looked like something straight from a 30's mystery novel, and sounded like it too. _That was a _very_ convincing 30's car horn,_ Paige thought dazedly, and her eyes widened as she realised there was a car coming at her. She tried to move, but couldn't, as shock overwhelmed her, and was only saved by Dan bodily tackling her again.

They fell in a heap on the sidewalk, as the car driver hurled abuse out the window at them, and sped off around the corner.

"Ughh," Paige mumbled, dazed and bruised, but thankfully alive. "Thanks. Second time this week, isn't it?"

Dan looked down at her and shrugged. "Something like that."

"Now if you could just get up so I could breathe, everything would be hunky-dory," Paige quipped, her dark brown eyes twinkling in mirth as Dan scrambled off her as quickly as he could, and extended a hand down to help her to her feet. Paige brushed mud matter-of-factly from her black pants, and looked around the neighborhood. "I think we've just been sucked into the book," she admitted, as they stayed safely on the sidewalk.

"Sucked into the-" Dan's mouth worked wordlessly for a second. He looked like he'd been blindsided by a flying naked leprechaun. _And stranger things have happened,_ Paige thought wryly. "Sucked into the _book_?" He managed incredulously.

Paige folded her arms across her chest. "Yeah. Crazier things have happened," she said, although she couldn't exactly come up with a precise example at that moment. "This is the first black-and-white escapade yet, though."

"Black and white," Dan repeated, as if completely stunned. Paige sympathised with him - she was closer than her sisters to the period in her life when she hadn't known magic existed, and although Dan had technically known about magic longer than her, she'd been exposed to a lot more of it than him.

A car door slammed.

"Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me," Paige murmured. Dan turned in amazement to see two guys in long-breasted coats and holding tommy guns advancing on them. His mouth fell open, and he shut it instantly.

"You friends of Eddie?" One of the man asked.

"Let me take care of this," Paige murmured to Dan, and Dan watched in amazement as her entire demeanour changed. Before she had been analytical of the place and a little scared, but now she exuded confidence as she sashayed a little closer to them, and put one hand on her hips provocatively. "Yeah, maybe we are," she said demurely. "What's it to you?"

"Don't get wise with me, Legs," the gangster said. Paige looked down at her legs, and back at him. "You're after the falcon, ain't ya? Everybody is. Well, it's Johnny's, so don't go getting any ideas."

"I think you've got us confused with someone else," Dan said hesitantly. The gangster eyeballed him roughly.

"I don't think so," the gangster informed him. Dan shuffled forwards a little.

"Can't you orb us out of here?" Dan whispered quickly to her.

"No, I already tried when the car came at me," Paige said. "My powers don't work here."

"Powers?" The gangster said, looking confusedly at his friend. Dan and Paige took that moment of hesitation to run, and not too early either, as the two gangsters instantly opened fire on them.

* * *

"So what we're saying is that Phoebe has disappeared from your radar, and Dan and Paige have been sucked into the book." Piper stared at the book sat on the table. She sighed. 

Chris walked back over to the table after putting up another glamour on the front door so the world didn't see the destruction. "Phoebe could have been taken underground, or just onto a different plane of existence, like you and Leo were. I'm guessing, though, that perhaps we've gotten close to the _friend_ who is going to betray us, and they got scared. Or it's Wyatt interfering. Or maybe both. Just one sister gone is disruption enough, so two different agents working against us is very likely."

"Well, I think I can take point on Paige's disappearance," Pippa said quickly. "It didn't happen for a good few months in my timeline, but all we have to do is finish the book. Paul and I can work on it."

"But what if Paige is already dead?" Piper said, voicing her biggest fear.

Paul and Pippa exchanged a long look, and Chris looked confusedly at the exchange.

"Paige is fine," Pippa said eventually. "When I encountered the book, anyone who died after being sucked into it had their body expelled."

"Great," Piper said, pulling a face. "You see to that. Chris, we're going to find Phoebe, okay?"

"Agreed," Chris said.

"Only one problem," Pippa said, pulling a face. "The book needs to be deactivated before I can do anything to it." Her face was dark. "You need an avatar to deactivate it."

"An avatar?" Piper looked confused. "What's-"

"Future consequences," Pippa, Paul and Chris managed to chime at the same time.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter what one is," Pippa said quickly. "What matters is the fact that we need one. But I don't know how we're going to get one."

"Actually," Chris said heavily, looking at the table top thoughtfully. "I think I know exactly where to get one."

It would have been good news had he not looked so truly haunted at the idea.

* * *

"Oh come ON guys, I'm RIGHT HERE!" Phoebe jumped up and down and waved her hands in front of Piper's face, but to no affect. She _had_ to be on the astral plane, right? 'cause she could see everyone and everything, but they couldn't see her. 

So why couldn't they hear her?

When Piper had been on the astral plane, Phoebe had heard Piper's voice, but they were acting as if they couldn't hear her.

_Maybe it's because I'm the one with the cognitive powers,_ Phoebe said, and hope dropped in her like a stone. She shook her head, refusing the think like that, and then those at the table all separated, going in different directions.

Phoebe decided to stick with her strengths, and trail after Piper.

* * *

Chris looked around the caverns of the Underground, and desperately hoped that Wyatt hadn't started to rearrange the furniture down here to suit his future plans better. 

He didn't see _why_ Wyatt would start now - but there was always the chance, and so it was with a lot more hesitance that he trod the heated paths of the underground caverns.

He tried to settle his breathing, but he couldn't help it. He was nervous. This hadn't been done in his timeline, and for good reason. It would cause a lot of people a lot of pain. It would devestate Phoebe.

_But this is to help find her,_ he had to keep reasoning, _this is to help. And he can help find who turns Wyatt_.

It wasn't very calming, but it was the only thing he could do right now to make sure the Power of Three was complete in the future. They needed the Power of Three, even if they could not stop Wyatt from being turned.

"Ah, Mr. Perry. Back so _soon_."

The icy words crept down Chris' spine, and he nodded as he entered the bulbous cavern that he had entered two months previously, to find a demon to scan for evil and had found this demon instead, that had made him an offer so awful he couldn't bear to think about taking the demon up on it...

And now he knew he had to.

"Yes," Chris said, unwaveringly. "I brought the items you said you would require if you were to- perform the service you offered."

The demon smiled at him darkly, and shuffled under its large cloak. "I thought you'd change your mind," the demon said softly. He took the bag Chris offered him and peered inside, delighted. "Fabulous. Although, I would almost pull this for free, just for the delicious events that would inevitably follow."

Chris nodded, and tried not to appear too tense.

"This won't take long," the demon assured him. He started throwing some ingredients in a cauldron, and then shuffled over to a large stalagmite. Tapping it, the top fell off, and he pulled out a sparkling gem from inside it. He grinned toothily at it, showing off a _lot_ of yellowed serrated teeth. "_Hmmm_."

Chris' recognised the gem from his mineralogical studies at magic school. A resurrection gem. Only worked for demons, and they were incredibly rare. The demon pulled out another bag from his cloak, and sprinkled some kind of dust over it. Chris recognised that, too. _Powdered unicorn horn_. Once evil harvested the horn from murdering a unicorn, direr evil followed.

The demon waved his arms over the concoction, and grinned again. He yelled out a lot of fluidic, musical syllables, and they increased in volume so loudly that Chris clamped his hands over his ears, but it kept rising and rising, and the cavern shook, and a crimson whirlwind appeared around the stone and the magical components. The demon shrieked out some more syllables, and Chris was vaguely aware of rhymes within those pounding incantations, although he could not make out the language.

The wind increased in intensity, and a crimson light doused the whole cavern in a blood red, with falling streaks of blackness. Chris managed to understand some of the howled syllables now, and cringed. _Death, and rebirth._

Oh, he was going to be _so _grounded when they all realised what he'd done.

Silence hit then, and it was almost louder than the sound, and it hit Chris like a physical slap. He stumbled backwards, and his back connected painfully with the cavern. He could smell blood, and didn't know if it was the consequence of the ritual the demon had carried out, or if it was his own blood.

Chris realised he'd screwed his eyes shut sometime in the last few seconds, and he forced them open. In the middle of the cavern now stood a man with brown hair and questioning blue eyes.

"Here you go," the demon said, smiling and shimmering out of the way, leaving them alone.

"Hello," Chris said, somewhat awkwardly. "My name's Chris. I'm from the future."

The man stuttered. "From... the future? What- what's going on?"

"What's going on?" Chris folded his arms. "Unless you help me, Paige and Phoebe will die, and a force more evil than the Source will destroy the world."

"Phoebe-" the man started, a look of anguish sweeping onto his handsome face. "Phoebe's in danger?"

"If you come with me to the manor, I'll explain further," Chris said.

The man looked at him suspiciously. "How do I know this isn't a trap?"

Chris sighed. "I had you resurrected because I need your power as an avatar, Cole. Do you want to help save Phoebe or not?"

That clinched it. Cole nodded, swallowed tremulously, and stepped forwards. "For Phoebe? Anything."

Chris nodded grimly, took Cole's arm and orbed them away.

**

* * *

**


	25. Chapter the Twentyfifth

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

* * *

**Chapter The Twenty-Fifth**

**

* * *

**

"So you didn't know you were even related to them until three years ago?"

Paige shook her head, and then realised Dan couldn't see her as she was behind the changing screen. "No, not a clue. I'd apparently used my magic before, though, when I was younger and didn't realise it."

Dan tucked his shirt into his pants. "How could you _not_ realise it? I would have thought-"

"Well, did you notice Piper using magic on you?" Paige question roughly.

"No," Dan said softly.

"Sometimes you don't see what's right in front of you," Paige said softly. "Besides – I used my magic to escape the accident in which my-" and her voice hitched "-parents died."

"Oh, god," Dan breathed, whirling around to stare at the screen even though he couldn't see her. "I'm so sorry!"

"Nah, don't be," Paige said, matter-of-factly. "One of the upsides to this magic business is I actually got to see them again."

Dan couldn't see her face, but he could hear the smile in her words. "This magic business," he repeated slowly. "Doesn't sound like you're that enthralled with it." He picked up the tie, and stared at it blankly. He'd never really learned how to tie a tie – if he'd needed one in San Francisco, Jenny had done it for him.

"Well, at the moment, I don't have a job, I'm a full-time witch-stroke-babysitter," Paige admitted softly. "It can get a little monotonous. Not that I mind," she added hurriedly. "I can put my tension with the whole thing aside for at least the next month, for Wyatt's sake. For the world's sake. Any discomfort I have- well, it's going to be temporary. I have to believe that. Because if we fail-" She trailed off.

"Chris' version of the future doesn't sound very nice," Dan said, frowning a little. "I know there's not much I can do, as a- um, what do you call non-magic people?"

"Freaks," Paige intoned solemnly, but broke out laughing before she could completely pull off the 'serious' act.

"Please don't say I'm a muggle," Dan said, and if it was a little bit whiny, Paige ignored it.

"Nah. I think 'mortal' is the term," Paige said. "Or maybe 'human'. Or maybe just plain 'normal'."

Dan didn't like the tone of her voice. It sounded as if _she_ thought she was a freak, and not normal. "I'd probably call it 'useless'," he said, a little self-deprecatingly, giving up on the tie and leaning against the wall as he waited for her to come out. "But what I was trying to say- Well, I know there's not much I _can_ do, but I want to do what I can. It's- uh- my world too."

"Well, I'll hold you to that," Paige said warmly. "You got the gun from behind the counter, yeah?"

"Yeah," Dan said, a little uncomfortably. "I get that this is a fictional world, and all… but those bullets from before _felt_ pretty real."

"Heh, but at least we got to break into a clothes shop and vandalise it, knowing we won't get it into trouble back home," Paige said, sounding amused. "When are we ever going to get the chance to do something like this again?"

She stepped around the corner, dressed in a pale, sparkling gown.

Dan blinked, felt his cheeks heating up a little and then wondered if she would see him blushing. _And what colour would my blushing BE?_

"Um, we did this to fit in, right?" Dan questioned, feeling very stupid all of a sudden. "Don't you think you're going to…stand out a little, _Lana_?" _Yeah, that's the suave thing to say, Gordon…_

Paige smiled, and took it as a compliment. "Well, we might as well have a little fun while we're here, right? Besides, I hope you mean Lana as in Lana Turner from 'The Postman Rings Twice'."

"The good version, yeah," Dan said, still blushing awkwardly.

Paige looked at him, and misinterpreted his blushing to embarrassment over his tie. "Do you need help with your tie?"

Feeling even stupider than before, he sheepishly held it up. "I don't know _how_ to do it," he mumbled, embarrassed.

Paige rolled her eyes a little, and walked demurely over to him, and took the tie. She started to tie it for him as she spoke. "Well, my reckoning is that we have to find out what the target of this plot is. I'm guessing we have to end the story to get out of it." She finished tying the tie and took a step back. Dan was suddenly, painfully aware that she wasn't close anymore, and he tried to ignore analysing that abrupt feeling as she tilted her head and smiled. "Perfect."

Dan opened his mouth to speak, but snapped it shut when he heard police sirens. He looked at Paige. "Do you think they're after us?"

Paige glanced around. "Let's not stay around to find out."

* * *

"Uh, okay, why didn't you orb us straight to the manor if you-" Cole started, his sky-blue eyes searching Chris' face. He was wary – Chris suddenly looked really nervous.

"Well…" Chris looked down at his feet, then up at Cole. "I'm sort of nervous."

"No kidding," Cole said softly, an edge in his voice.

"I just don't know how they're going to react," Chris explained, looking even more worried. "See, in my timeline, you _weren't_ resurrected. From the stories I got told, I always got the impression it would be a- well, not a smart thing to do."

Cole blinked at him. "Stories you were told?"

"Uh, I was really close to the Charmed Ones' children growing up," Chris said, very quickly.

"Children?" Cole inhaled, as if hurt. "Does Phoebe-"

"No, no, not yet," Chris said, awkwardly. "She does, though. Not by you."

Cole tried to take that news in his stride. He'd tried to accept he had to move on. "Well, I know I need to give her space," Cole said, a little tentatively. "I realised that before I died." He looked into the distance, lost. "Maybe I have to just accept that I'm here only to save her, and that's it."

Chris found himself moved by the raw honesty and pain in Cole's voice, and he stepped forward awkwardly, putting one hand gently on Cole's arm to reassure him. "Maybe there's a chance," he said softly. "My future _sucked_. Maybe you were _supposed_ to be around. We'll never know. But for now- we have to get Phoebe back. And Paige."

"Yeah," Cole said, a little more determinedly. He cocked his head at Chris. "You look a little familiar, you know."

Chris nodded. "I know." He started to walk, and Cole slowly followed him, hands in his pockets. "The sisters don't know who I am. Perhaps it will be easier if you don't, either."

"All right," Cole said, surprising himself by agreeing so readily. "You're not Phoebe's-"

"God, no!" Chris responded, turning and looking at Cole with an expression of horror on his young face.

"Just checking," Cole said with a grin. "All right. I'll trust you for now. But, I will have to add, with _that_ reaction to my question, you have _horrid _taste in women."

Chris muttered something under his breath and shook his head. "I'm from twenty-odd years into the future," he explained. "And I'm twenty-odd years old. So unless Phoebe really _really_ likes babies…"

Cole wrinkled his nose a little. "Yeah, I get that." They walked in silence around the corner, to the street where the manor was. "You said that a force more _evil_ than the Source will destroy the world?"

"Yes," Chris said, his face grim. "Piper and Leo's first son, Wyatt. Sometime in the next twenty-six days, he's going to be turned, and we don't know who by."

Cole blinked. "Piper and Leo had a _boy_?"

"And Piper's very due with her second boy," Chris informed him. He looked up at the manor, and exhaled. "Well, I guess I'd better show them what I did." He still looked embarrassed and nervous.

"You had to do this," Cole informed him dryly. "But if they vanquish me again, I'm not going to be too pleased with you."

"Hah, thanks," Chris muttered darkly. He walked up the stairs first, and tried the door. It was open. Swallowing, he pulled a face at Cole, and then steadied his expression. "Here we go," he muttered, although Cole suspected it was mostly to himself than anything.

* * *

Phoebe sank into the chair next to Piper, frustrated. She'd tried _everything_. Going up to the Book of Shadows to cast a spell (only she couldn't turn the pages), shouting as loudly as she could ("IT'S GIDEON! HE'S GOING TO TURN WYATT!"), trying to focus her powers on Piper and Pippa and Paul, but nothing _worked_.

And it didn't look like _they_ were doing anything to find her, either!

Paul and Pippa had been in heavy discussion since Paige and Dan went into the book (Phoebe had tried to climb into the book, too, but to no avail) and were writing notes on a notebook. From what they were saying, it seemed like once the book was neutralised, they could write in plot twists to get Paige out.

Apparently Chris was away on a mission to get someone to neutralise the book – an avatar. Phoebe thought the name sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it. Had they met avatars before?

"Hi, everyone."

Phoebe twisted on the chair, and was relieved to see Chris standing sheepishly in the doorway to the living room.

"Chris!" Pippa exclaimed. "Did you-"

"I got an avatar," Chris said, but he looked like he was going to throw up.

"So..?" Piper prompted. "Where is it? In your pocket?"

"Not exactly," said a _way_ too-familiar male voice.

Phoebe stared in horror as Cole stepped into the doorway. He was just like she remembered. His blue eyes, soft like a summer's sky, far-off like the sea, his shock of brown hair landing on his forehead, making her want to run her hands through it…

"_Cole_?" Piper looked like she was going to faint, and Phoebe definitely agreed with her there.

"Uh, well, we needed an avatar-" Chris said weakly, and gestured at Cole with his hands. Phoebe weakly got to her feet and stood in front of Cole, staring up at him in astonishment and feeling as sick as Chris looked.

"And you resurrected _COLE_?" Piper spluttered. "Man, when we get Phoebe back-" She looked absolutely stricken. Cole bristled.

"Look, I know you don't like me," Cole said, his voice hard, "but you damn well need me. Chris did a brave thing getting me back. Apparently me being here could completely screw up the future he knows, so I'm going to do what_ever_ I can to get Phoebe back, Paige back and help you find who turns that son of yours, and then I will be _out_ of the way. I promise." His eyes were pleading as he locked gazes with Piper, obviously recognising her precedence in the household. "Just let me help her." His last words were breathless, and anguished. He looked to be in so much _pain_.

Phoebe stepped back as he moved forwards. "Cole-" she whispered, brokenly, as if he could hear her. There was no indication he'd heard her. She'd had a brief thought that maybe, as an avatar, (whatever THAT was, and WHAT was Cole going to be NEXT?) he could hear her. But _no_. He couldn't. And apparently, she was turning as neurotic as Chris, according to the pattern of her thoughts over the last day. _But it's justified, right? We're just over three weeks until Gideon turns Wyatt and the whole future goes to hell…_

"All right," Piper said, a little unevenly. "We need that book de-activated."

Paul got to his feet and solemnly handed the bright "_Crossed, Double-crossed_" to Cole. Cole blinked at Paul, and then at Pippa, and then blinked again.

"There's _two_ of you?" Cole blurted at Piper.

"Don't ask," Piper said dryly. "It's been a _long_ week."

"I see," Cole said, a little waveringly. He opened the book, and the pages started to shine.

"Don't do that, that's how Paige disappeared!" Phoebe yelled. However, Cole ignored her and continued to stare at the book. Then she noticed movement behind her, and saw two other figures standing there with their hands outstretched. She had an ominous feeling when she saw them. _Okay, that doesn't feel right…_ Light blazed from their outstretched hands, and the light receded into the book and it suddenly stopped glowing.

"You did it!" Pippa exclaimed happily. Cole turned blank-eyed to her.

"COLE, LOOK OUT!" Phoebe yelled, as the two figures advanced on him menacingly, their hands still outstretched. None of the others could even _see_ them! Cole turned, his eyes wide, and Phoebe was sure in that exact second he'd heard her, for his mouth dropped open.

"_Phoebe_?" he whispered, his voice broken, but it was too late as the two figures stepped even closer to him. Cole was enveloped in a furious blue light and he collapsed to the ground, and the two figures disappeared.

Paul was the first to reach Cole, although Phoebe was just as fast as she scrambled over.

"Cole?" She whispered, and tried to shake him but her hands passed through him, and she stood up, frightened. _What was the matter? Did Chris resurrect him only for THIS only just to let him die?_

"He's alive," Paul said softly. "We need some more blankets."

He got to his feet, crossing the room.

"I'll help," Piper offered, "there's one in the tumble dryer that should be nice and warm."

The two exited the room. Phoebe glanced between them.

"Can you get him onto the couch?" Pippa asked Chris, looking between him and Cole worriedly. Phoebe was touched by the obvious worry for Cole on Pippa's face. _Piper did finally accept that I loved him._

Chris moved over. "Sure, mom," he said gently. He touched Cole's arm, and orb lights blazed over him, only for him to reappear a foot away on the couch. Pippa instantly began to make him comfortable, arranging cushions under his head so his neck wasn't at such a bad angle.

Phoebe knelt down next to the couch, and wished she could take his hand. She looked at his pained, unconscious face and hated the flashbacks she received. She'd seen this before, too many times.

Of course, it was only when Chris helped tuck Cole's feet onto the couch when she realised exactly what he had called Pippa.

_Mom_.

**

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**


	26. Chapter the Twentysixth

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

* * *

**Chapter the Twenty-Sixth**

* * *

Chris was Piper's second son. 

Chris Perry was Piper's second son.

Christopher Perry, the neurotic boy from the future, was Piper's second _son_.

Christopher _Halliwell_.

Her nephew.

And she couldn't tell anyone about it.

Not for a lack of _wanting_ to tell anyone about it. Phoebe felt the news almost strangle her, making her giddy and breathless, and she wanted to scream it out to the world. The only problem was she wasn't exactly tuned into the same frequency as the rest of the world at that current moment.

Chris was…

_Oh, god. Oh, god. And I totally hit on him_, _when that Titan thing was going down…_

_That_ wasn't the best thought she'd ever had in her life. She watched Pippa and Chris as they easily interacted with each other, and that grace and ease between them didn't go when Paul and Piper came back into the room, heaped up with blankets.

Chris had come back to save his family, like he'd said. Only he'd literally meant it.

It was if someone had dumped eighty jigsaw puzzles in a box at her feet, told her to sort them, and then someone else had come along and put them together for her, in a magical instant. Everything _fit_ suddenly, and the world became achingly clear.

Chris was part of the family.

Chris had risked everything for _them_.

Chris was… staring right at her. Actually, right through her. It was disconcerting to say the least. Scrambling to one side, Phoebe moved to a different vantage spot. Cole was beginning to stir; a flush of colour was already rising in his cheeks.

_Hurry up,_ she whispered silently, a plea to any who were listening. _You heard me, Cole. You can tell them where I am. I'm right here_._ And Chris is my NEPHEW. Oh, god._

She felt wretchedly annoyed with herself. The fortune teller had plainly told her that her vision was clouded, and that she'd seen everything she'd needed to figure it out. In her vision of the future, she'd seen that cute little brown-haired boy, and even though Chris had spoken the same words she hadn't connected the dots. Like she should have done.

_Chris, I'm sorry_._ I should have realised, and then maybe you could have confided in _me Instead, Chris had confided in Victor, and possibly Leo. _Leo knows, too. That's right. Piper's going to _kill _him when she finds out._

She found herself torn between watching Cole and watching Chris, and forcibly chose the latter. Chris' eyes were travelling over Cole's prone body in worry, guilt already on his tormented face, and Phoebe realised they were the exact same shade as Leo's. His cheekbones were angular, but reminded her of Piper, and there was a defiant tilt to his eyebrows that reminded her of her mom.

_How could I not have seen this before?

* * *

_

"He's waking up," Chris said quietly. God, he was so _stupid!_ To put someone through the trauma of being resurrected, to a world that would make absolutely no sense, and then for _this_ to happen. _Cole could have _died_, and would you have cared? He's just a means to an end, but is this how they see _you_ too?_

Chris forced those thoughts away. They never lead anywhere constructive. _Besides, a whole lot of people will be dumped into a future that doesn't make any kind of sense at _all_ unless we find who turns Wyatt!_

"Cole?" Piper said briefly as Cole blinked and opened his eyes, looking around himself in confusion.

"Nnnnngggghh," Cole answered, swinging himself up into a sitting position and holding his face. "Yeah, _that_ was fun." He looked sourly up at them.

"What happened?" Chris asked, concern washing over his features.

"The avatars took my powers away," Cole answered briefly. "I guess you should be happy, I'm all human again." He looked down at his hands as if to verify the fact that he was even still there.

"I didn't see any avatars-" Piper started, looking around worriedly as if they still might be there.

"Don't worry, they're gone," Cole rushed to reassure her. "But there's some good news at least. Just before I passed out, I heard Phoebe, and I don't think I was hallucinating."

"That's a good reference," Paul quipped. Piper and Pippa turned a double glare at him, and he withered visibly. Chris resisted the urge to snigger. When they'd been growing up, _he_ was the one usually the target of Piper's glaring (oh _please, _like I blew up the toaster on _purpose_) and now Paul was getting it double.

It seemed there were perks to this time-travelling lark after all.

"So she's on… the astral plane?" Piper guessed.

"I don't think so," Chris said, a little hesitantly as he meandered his way though his guess. "I mean, when you and Leo were stuck on the astral plane, Paige and Phoebe heard your calling. It stands to reason that Phoebe would be yelling her head off to get us to pay attention, and have you heard her?"

Three heads shook as one.

"Unless it's because Paige is stuck elsewhere," Pippa voiced her guess. "So I'm going to get right onto getting her and Dan out from the book. Paul, you'll give me a hand, right?"

"Sure," Paul said, picking up the book. The two nodded at the others and headed out to sit at the dining room table.

* * *

"Okay, they were _definitely _after us," Paige said, breathing hard as she and Dan hid behind a dumpster. The sound of pounding feet echoed in the air and they bent down as closely to the wall as they could until the sound got quieter – their pursuers were getting further away. 

"They were shouting something about us giving back the falcon," Dan said, not breathing quite as hard as Paige, but worry was splayed more openly on his face. "Maybe that's what we have to find to get out of here."

"Good thinking, Batman," Paige said, twinkling a smile at him. "It should be safe to get out from here, now. I can't hear them."

"I'll go first," Dan said, sliding the gun out of its holster and keeping it concealed by the coat he was wearing. He started to edge out of small alleyway they'd concealed themselves in.

"Wait!"

Dan turned sharply at the sound of her voice. "What?"

"Look at this!" Paige moved out from the safety of the dumpster across to a large poster pasted onto the wall. "I didn't see this before, did you?"

Dan crossed over to it. "No, the wall was blank."

"Meaning we might be getting a little outside help," Paige said happily. "Listen. _Do you feel as if you're stuck somewhere? Is there something you have to find to get the most out of life? Sister, don't get down, get even. Contact Eddie Mullen, PI, 555-1425. Literary types most welcome."_

"Eddie Mullen?" Dan blinked. "I think—wasn't Mullen a name on the cover of the book?"

"Yep," Paige said, grinning. "I think we passed a phone box on the way here, don't you?"

Perked up by the spark of hope, they exchanged a relieved look and exited the alleyway.

* * *

"Hey, what's the matter?" 

Chris was too busy watching him mom and younger brother walk out that he didn't realise Piper was talking to him. Blinking, he turned to her, looking slightly confused. Piper, holding the small of her back, settled into one of the large, squishy armchairs and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I was asking _you_," Piper said, a warm humour in her voice.

"It's just-" Chris bit his lip, and looked at Cole, who was looking at him in a similar kind of confusion. "I guess I was hoping you'd be able to find out who turned Wyatt," he said, in a low mumble. "I was only thinking of the situation, and not of you." He looked at Cole. "I- I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry _for_," Cole said, a little amazed. "You brought me _back_. Even though this is extremely confusing, I'm grateful. I never really—knew what life was, until I met Phoebe." His eyes were distant, and his voice was tinged with an open longing. "I've never had the chance at _life_. Real life. I think I'm at a point where I can accept what I am, and try again. Even if that's not here. And if I can help get Phoebe back, and save the future- Well, it'll help erase a little of my karmic debt, right?"

Chris nodded, still downcast.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Cole said, his voice a little rough. "You did what you had to do, okay?"

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but he's right," Piper said. "We need Paige back and this was the only way. Aren't you the one that said we need the Power of Three for the future?"

A thousand emotions flitted over Chris' face, and he eventually managed to twist his mouth into a semi-smile. "Yeah." He looked troubled. "I'll go fetch the Book of Shadows, see if there's a spell to hunt for witches lost in different planes."

He walked past Pippa and Paul with his head down, and ran up the stairs as fast as he could. Crossing the floor to the book, he started to flicker through it, but his eyes couldn't focus on the page properly.

Frowning, he moved closer, but the words seemed to collapse inwards on each other more. The book actually looked to be at a slight angle. He tilted his head, but it lurched awkwardly. He stumbled backwards in horror.

_You're useless. You're never going to find what you're looking for because you have no talent what-so-ever. You were the _worst_ person to come back to do this! It was your egocentrism. That's why you came, when there were so many people who wouldn't have screwed up so far. You're truly pathetic_.

Now the floor was moving, and the ceiling… the ceiling was slipping away… and everything felt like water beneath his feet and he could hear his mom crying out to him, and Leo calling for his help, and Melinda screaming her death, and Paul- he couldn't find Paul- where was he? _Where are you_? – and the floor left him and the ceiling zoomed up to greet him…

…_I'm sorry…_

…and the next thing he knew was warmth, spreading through him. _What?_

"I can't do much for him," the voice was saying, "just a little quick start."

Chris tried to ask what was going on, but "Hmmmmuh?" was what came out. He was suddenly, painfully aware that it was dark everywhere, and when he tried to open his eyes, a barrage of light slammed into his vision, and he had to shut his eyes again.

"Was it a demon?" someone else was saying. That voice was familiar.

"_Mom_?" Chris managed this time, blinking furiously.

"No, it's me, Piper," the voice said, sounding incredibly amused.

"I think it's just exhaustion," the first voice said. Male. Chris zoned in on that voice. _Leo_. "He's overworked himself."

"Oh, god," Piper said, her voice still sounding distant. "I just assumed dad was keeping an eye on things like that."

"'msorry," Chris managed this time. He tried to push himself up, and was surprised when he couldn't.

"You really have to take care of yourself," Leo lectured. "If Paul hadn't heard that thump… How are you going to help us save Wyatt if you knock yourself unconscious for a week?"

Chris managed, with – and he assumed – Paul's help to manoeuvre himself up into a semi-sitting position. Paul – and it was him – winked at him as he pushed cushions behind him to prop him up. "All right, _dad_," Chris said sarcastically through lowered eyelashes.

Leo sent him a blank look as Piper sniggered at Chris' sarcasm. "I'm being serious."

"Swell," Chris said. "So when are you going to start yelling me about the other thing I did today?"

"What do you mean?" Leo questioned, instantly looking even more worried.

"I kind of brought someone back from the dead," Chris said, very quickly. Leo stared. "And he's standing behind you."

"Wha—" Leo started.

"Hello, Leo," Cole said, smoothly if a little awkwardly.

Leo turned back to Chris, his expression decidedly mixed. He flickered a glance at Chris. "You know what, as soon as your mother gives birth to you in this timeline, I am definitely making sure you get grounded for your next fifty lifetimes."

Chris pursed his lips. "Thanks. But you might want to re-direct your madness at the other things that have been going wrong around here."

"Wha-" Leo said again.

"Phoebe's stuck on a parallel plane somewhere, and Paige and Dan are trapped inside a book," Chris said. Then his thoughts rearranged themselves, and he figured one more thing out. "Oh," he added thoughtfully, as Leo looked at him dumbstruck, "I also believe that maybe Barbas is somehow out and about."

**

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**


	27. Chapter the Twentyseventh

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day.

* * *

**Chapter The Twenty-Seventh**

**

* * *

**

"33rd street is just around the corner," Dan said, looking up from the street map, and looking at Paige slowly. She nodded.

"Let's go." They remained in silence as they hurried along the street and around the corner. A small sign proclaimed it "33rd –t-eet."

"Well, you can say that for the author of this book," Dan remarked. "Their attention to detail is quite impressive."

Paige flashed a half-smile at him. "This is building number four." They stopped outside a dark, sombre looking building. Dan unconsciously moved to take point, but Paige hustled him out of the way with a glare. Dan was a little surprised, but he followed her. Normally women would let him go first, but he was beginning to see Paige wasn't like a lot of the women he'd known before.

"Mullen bros., detective agency." Paige's voice was hushed as she read out the neatly painted sign on the doorway. "There's more than just one of them?"

Dan blinked. "The cover might have said Mullen brothers," he said, slowly, trying to remember what the book had looked like before Paige opened it. "But why would your sisters only write _Eddie_ Mullen on the poster?"

Paige looked at him, worry in her dampened gaze. "I don't know," she said softly.

"Well, shall we?" Dan said, looking at the door. Paige nodded determinedly, and they moved forwards together to open the door.

When they entered the room there were two people standing there, an older man who had a sneer on his face, and quite a young man. _Maybe even in his teens, _Dan realised.

"Oh, sorry," Paige said. "Didn't mean to interrupt."

"The newcomers?" the older of the two drawled. He looked like some kind of crime boss. "Eddie, I thought you said you didn't know them."

"Um, I don't. I've never seen 'em before in my life," Eddie mumbled, more to his feet than them.

"_You're _Eddie Mullen?" Paige questioned briefly. "You look a little young to be a private detective."

Eddie flushed awkwardly.

"You don't like them young, toots?" the older man said, in quite a slimy way as he eyeballed Paige. "You ought to take a gander my way."

Paige couldn't quite stop the look of repulsion that slid across her pretty face, but she did manage to hold it in a little.

Dan felt himself bristle, and he stepped in for her. "Hey, why don't you gander somewhere else, buddy? Who are you, anyway?"

The older man chuckled. "My name's Johnny. Johnny the Gent. I think you made the

acquaintance of a few of my boys."

"Johnny. Right. Yeah, I think they dropped your name in between Tommy gun blasts," Paige said, imitating his swaggering style of speaking.

Johnny chuckled again. "Simple misunderstanding. Everyone's on edge on account of the Falcon."

"_They mentioned that before,_" Dan hissed in realisation to Paige, who just nodded quietly at him.

"The Falcon as in the Maltese Falcon?" Paige asked.

"Nah," Eddie said, as if Paige were an idiot. "Everyone knows the Maltese was a fake. This one's the real deal. The Burmese Falcon."

"Burmese?" Dan scoffed. "You can't be serious?"

"Total rip-off," Paige agreed.

"Rip-off or no, I figure that's why you're here. You wouldn't happen to know where it is, would you?" Johnny asked, patting his gun.

"Maybe we do," Paige said calmly. Dan shot her a look to say _are you CRAZY?_ but she just shot him a demure confident look back. "But that's between us and Eddie. We have business to discuss. Alone."

"Thanks," Eddie said, sarcastically. "I got enough business."

"No, please," Paige said, pleading. "You're the only one who can help us. See, we, uh ... we came to you through this… real special book. We just can't seem to find our way back."

From the look on Eddie's face, he caught Paige's meaning, and he stared at them.

"Be polite, Eddie. Hear 'em out. Besides, it might be lucrative." Johnny headed for the door, and threw a loaded look at Paige and Dan. "I'll be in touch."

Eddie sighed, and when he looked at Paige it was a look heavy with irony. "Of all the books in all the libraries in all the world, you gotta get sucked into this one?"

* * *

"So who's this Barbie fellow?"

Chris looked up at Victor, and snorted helplessly. "I forget how funny you are sometimes," he said, laughing into his hand. "Barbas. Demon of Fear." He paused, thoughtfully. "Although I may have to start calling him Barbie now." He snorted again with laughter.

Victor screwed his nose up a little. "Glad I amuse you."

"I'm glad that you're glad you amuse me."

"I'm glad that you're glad that I'm glad that I amuse you."

"I'm glad that you're glad that I'm glad that you're glad that you amuse _me_," Chris replied, his face the picture of innocence.

"Well," Victor said plainly, "I'm just glad."

The burst out laughing, and Chris held his stomach a little.

Instantly, Victor had bent to his knees and looked at Chris, hard. "Are you all right?"

Chris pulled a face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing some food and a night's sleep won't cure."

"Hah, one step ahead of you," Victor said, smirking. Chris frowned at him, and Victor waved a menu at him. "Number One Noodle Son coming right up. I wasn't sure of your favourite, so I pretty much ordered some of everything."

"Are you _kidding_?" Chris grinned. "That _is_ my favourite."

"Well, me too," Victor said genially. "That's why I ordered it. Great minds think alike, though, eh?"

"And simple ones the same," Chris intoned solemnly. Victor shot him an evil look. "Give me a break, my father was a Whitelighter. Clichés are programmed into my _brain_."

"So you're acknowledging Leo as your father now?"

Chris looked sharply at Victor, then away. "I guess," he said, even if it was somewhat subdued.

"He's trying," Victor said, a little unsure as to why he was defending Leo. _But then, you are similar, even if you don't want to accept it_.

Chris just shrugged his eyebrows a little, and pulled the blankets up to snuggle beneath them. "He always _tried_," Chris said, somewhat bitterly, somewhat lost. Victor looked at him to try to ascertain what he meant by that, but Chris was stubbornly looking elsewhere. He sighed.

The doorbell went then, and Victor went to answer it, collecting the two bags loaded with different kinds of boxes and wrapped parcels. "Food's here," Victor called, as he paid and tipped the delivery guy, who squeaked his thanks and dawdled off. Chris moved as if to get up and help, and Victor stopped him with a glare. "Sit there. If you'd done what I told you and _eaten_ properly yesterday you wouldn't be in this state now."

Victor dragged the small coffee table over to Lumpy, and set up his chair on the opposite sides.

"I presume I'm allowed to open the bags on my own?" Chris questioned sarcastically.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to be sarcastic at dinner time?" Victor retorted.

"Yeah," Chris said.

"Then-"

"You asked if she'd told me, not if I listened," Chris said, reaching for a box and then expertly spearing a noodle on one of the cheap chopsticks that came with the meal.

"Yeah, you get that smart back-talking from your mother," Victor grouched, as he swapped his chopsticks for one of the plastic forks and ignored Chris' smirk.

"Why, thank you, kind sir," Chris said lightly, his eyes shining.

"Ah, what a difference a noodle makes," Victor said. Chris looked confused. "You look so much better."

"Oh," Chris said. "I don't know if it was entirely exhaustion why I collapsed." He looked worried, and bit on his lower lip for a few seconds.

"Hm?"

"Well, Barbas…" Chris looked down at his box of noodles, his appetite suddenly gone. "I don't know if you need to know this."

"Will it screw up the future?" Victor questioned.

"It screwed up me." The words came out bitterly, with a self-hating tone that Victor hated. Chris looked up, caught Victor's expression, and sighed. "When I was growing up, I saw Wyatt _do_ things. Do things he shouldn't. I won't tell you what he did. I hope you'll never have to know what he's capable of if we fail. I tried to tell my family, and at first they thought it was jealousy that I wasn't as powerful as my older brother. Then they thought I was going crazy." He shut his eyes, tight. "_I _thought I was going crazy."

The words hung uncomfortably in the air for a while, until Chris had composed himself a little and could continue.

"I started getting depressed, and I didn't know why. They took me to a _lot_ of doctors, therapists, and- I pretended I was getting better. But I just hated myself. More and more. And I believed them, a little more every day." Chris inhaled slowly, and exhaled slower. "And then we found out it was Barbas. Just too late. I think Wyatt planned it that way."

Victor frowned, the news hard to take. "Just too late?"

Chris looked up, and his eyes were dark, like the lull before a storm. "The day before I thought mom died," he admitted, his voice rough. "But he did me one favour."

"What was that?"

"Because we only found out that it was Barbas so close to mom and Paul dying- well they didn't- oh, you know what I mean… Well, there was no official record of me being sane." Chris' face looked a little haunted.

Victor reeled backwards, shocked. _Record of him being sane?_ "You got registered insane? With this family's fucking track record, they registered you as insane before checking out every possible reason?"

Chris was surprised at the venom in Victor's tone. He looked startled, as if he might shy away at any point, but a quiet pride for his grandfather shone on his face too. "That was your reaction then, too," Chris said, again with that self-deprecating tone. "Mom told you that you couldn't swan into our lives, get to have fun with us, swan away again and then tell her how to raise her own kids."

"That's classic Piper," Victor said, clearly disgruntled. "It won't happen this time. I swear it."

Chris nodded his thanks.

"It still doesn't stop what happened to you, though," Victor said gruffly, annoyance still pinking his cheeks. "What was the one favour, then? Getting you…" He searched for the least painful word. "…deregistered?"

"Naw," Chris said. "After dad died-" He winced as if hurt. "Uh, well, Wyatt was of age to adopt all of us, but I was still registered as- well- you know. There's a law in this region that to adopt a- an insane person- you had to be over 21. Wyatt was—was _of age_ to adopt Paul and Melinda, but he couldn't take me."

"You were kept by the state?" Victor said, his eyes wide. "That's _awful_-"

"No, no," Chris said softly, looking up at Victor. A smile crossed onto his face, and Victor felt it like the first sight of snowbells after a long, hard winter. "_You_ adopted me."

**

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**


	28. Chapter the Twentyeighth

**Neurotic

* * *

**

Summary: "My name's not Chris Perry," Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

Disclaimer: _Charmed_ and Chris don't belong to me, doo dah, doo dah, I'm not making any money from this, oh, dah doo dah day. The "Film Noir" storyline is a good 'un, which is why I've nicked and altered it. It doesn't belong to me either. Sigh.

* * *

A couple of you mentioned Chris' 'mistake' – about Wyatt being of age to adopt Paul and Melinda. Basically, he was partly confused as to what he's told _who_, he was partly lying and there were clones, too. Besides, Chris never said Wyatt DID adopt them, he said Wyatt was OF AGE to. Yeap, he's one sneaky (but pretty) lad.

* * *

**Chapter The Twenty-Eighth**

**

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**

They followed Eddie Mullen as he shuffled into his inner office, chucking his hat onto the hat stand as he went. Dan closed the door behind them.

"You don't seem too happy to see us," Dan said, hesitantly.

"Well, should I be?" Eddie said, arching an eyebrow at Dan as he took out a cigarette and lit it. He held it to his mouth.

"What're you doing?" Paige questioned, suddenly irate. "Don't you know those things'll kill you?"

Eddie smiled sarcastically and drew in a whole mouthful of smoke. He exhaled it languidly. "Well, if the smokes don't get me, the bullets will." Paige didn't know what to say. Eddie looked away, doubtful. "Just like they got Dan."

"Ex_cuse _me?" Dan looked at himself.

"Who's Dan?" Paige questioned brusquely, ignoring Dan's outburst.

"My brother. A couple of corrupt cops shot him. They were trying to stop him

from getting to the Falcon before they did," Eddie explained.

"The Falcon," Paige said, in awakening awareness. "What is it with this Falcon? Why does everyone want it so badly?"

"'Cause we wrote 'em that way, that's why. It's their whole motivation."

"Very impressive," Paige said. "Quite a magical world you boys have concocted here."

"Dan was the creative one at school. It was his idea. I was just along for the ride. It was supposed to be fun." Eddie's face was suddenly drawn with melancholy.

"Wait, school?" Paige blinked. "You're from the magic school?"

"Yes," Eddie said, looking curious. "You didn't find this book in the library?"

"Someone sent it to us," Paige said, furrowing her brow. She looked at Dan. "It must have been future Wyatt. He'll have known what the book does. It had to have been him – anyone else would have opened the book and gotten sucked in."

Dan nodded, while Eddie looked a little confused.

"Future Wyatt?" Eddie questioned.

"Yeah, he's an evil overlord from the future, who has come back to the past to wreck havoc. If we don't get out of here soon, the future could be screwed," Paige said, matter-of-factly.

Eddie looked quiet.

"So why haven't you left yet?" Dan asked, wanting to break the suddenly oppressive mood.

"I can't," Eddie said plaintively. "The only way out is to end the story. Can't do that until the Falcon's found."

"You don't know where it is?" Paige asked.

"No," Eddie said, looking at the bottom of his shoes a little. "Dan and I laid down the fundamentals, the beginning. The story's got a life of it's own now."

"When, uh, when did you write the book?" Dan asked, looking around at the setting.

"Not in the thirties," Eddie said, with a bit of a laugh. "We started writing it yesterday." Paige and Dan exchanged a look. "October 30th."

"Which year?" Dan asked.

"1974, morons," Eddie said, rolling his eyes and taking a drag from his cigarette.

"It's 2004," Paige said, her voice suddenly quiet.

"Two thousand and-" Eddie's eyes bugged. "But we've only been in here a couple of days! Dan only _died_ yesterday-" He stopped, his voice breaking.

"You guys must have created some sort of different time in here, one where no one ages..." Paige said. It sounded as if she was musing out loud.

"No," Eddie said bitterly. "They just get killed. Thanks to me."

"This is ridiculous, all right?" Dan spluttered. "Look, kid—"

Whatever Dan's outburst was going to be was lost forever as the phone spluttered into life.

Eddie picked it up. "This is Eddie. Hold the line, please." He looked up pointedly at Dan and Paige. "Now, would you all mind ..." He tilted his head at the door.

"Yeah, no problem," Paige said, and she and Dan left the office.

* * *

"We had noodles," Chris announced as he walked through the door, Victor in tow, upon sighting Paul. 

Paul looked up from the book and scowled, waving a pen at him. "I hate you," he growled, narrowing his eyes.

Chris stared at him. "What happened to your hair?"

"What do you _think_ happened?" Paul demanded, shaking his newly shortened locks. "Piper happened, that's what."

"Aw, but he's so cute," Pippa gushed as she rounded the corner with a pile of books in her hands. Chris glowered at the books.

"They don't look like demon volumes to me," he said, his voice bordering on a full-on growl.

"That's because they're not," Pippa said, rolling her eyes as if Chris was an idiot. He supposed she might have a point in the making that gesture, as he did bring himself to the point of exhaustion yesterday, but _still_.

"Then. What. Are. You. Doing. With. Them," Chris ground out. "I hope your answer is that you plan to throw them at demons, otherwise-"

"They're to put Piper's feet up 'cause she's getting cranky," Pippa explained. "And she has swollen ankles, _and it's all your fault_," she added, in a mischievous undertone. "Piper's already taken a pair of scissors to Paul, so unless you want her even crankier, then you'll let me pass."

Chris reluctantly moved out of the way, by moving into the sitting room. Piper was sat on one of the armchairs, a ridiculous amount of cushions on a pile on the floor.

He stared.

"Why aren't you using the stool?" He blurted out. "It's right _there_."

Pippa and Piper exchanged a look, and then looked over at the soft stool, and then at Chris. They blinked at the same time.

"You," Chris said, pointing at Piper, "are pregnant. It's excusable. You," he added, pointing at Pippa, "are just stupid. No excuse."

"Chris-" Pippa exclaimed, a little startled. Hurt washed into her clear brown eyes.

"Chris me later," Chris sniffed. "I've got some work to do."

Without looking at any of them, he brushed past Victor and headed upstairs to the Book of Shadows. Victor watched him go, his face awash with concern for his young grandson. "Do you want me to go?" Victor asked gently.

"No, I will," Pippa said, with a steely determination. "I've been putting this talk off for a while." She looked with understanding at Victor, and then quietly followed Chris up the stairs.

"What talk has she been putting off?" Piper asked in bewilderment.

Victor shrugged, but his eyes were clouded. Chris was still very angry about his childhood, _or lack of_. _I'm going to have to keep Piper down here, or she'll hear something she shouldn't._

* * *

"What do you want?" Chris snapped, not looking up from the page he was currently engrossed over. He made a few marks on a notebook. 

"I want to talk."

"Then talk."

Pippa sighed, and crossed the room. She laid her hands hesitantly on the top of the Book. "Face-to-face," she said gently.

Chris reluctantly lifted his gaze. "Then talk," he stubbornly repeated.

"I was wondering when this would all hit you," Pippa said softly, moving across and dropping to the sofa, her hands knotted on her knees as she looked up at him. Her whole stance gave off the impression of pleading.

"When _what_ would all hit me?" Chris' voice was mocking. "The fact that, oh, I don't know, we have just over three weeks to find out who turns Wyatt, and in the interim rescue Paige and Phoebe?" He looked at her, fury tilting his eyebrows. "I'm sorry to tell you this, _mom_, but I've been here for a year, and every _day_ I knew this deadline was coming!"

"That's not what I meant," Pippa said quietly.

"Or maybe it's even further back you mean," Chris said darkly. "I saw the world's destruction years in advance. My whole _life _has been leading to this."

Pippa's hands shook, and she looked down at them, distractedly.

"But I guess the truth hurts," Chris said evenly, turning back to the Book. His own hands weren't that steady.

"I didn't _plan_ to leave you!" Piper said, fire in her voice and on her face. "I didn't know he was going to ki- to try and kill me." Her voice wavered, although her eyes did not. They were trained directly at her second son. "I've lost some of my life too. And I've lost one of my kids. I do not need to lose you too."

"You already have," Chris said softly, with hatred. "I love you, but I can't pretend I'm okay with this any more. I've been trying to, god knows. This deadline is more important than any of us. And it's a hell of a lot more important than you and me."

He didn't have to look at her to know she was crying, and it made him bristle rather than feel for her. He'd been fucking _trying_ his best to be calm and collected, but seeing her made everything so confused. He loved her and he hated her, he wanted to embrace her and tear her skin off with his hands all at the same time. He wanted to live and die with her, without her, all and none of the above.

Leo was right. About the hatred. He hadn't told Chris that it kept on going, even when you didn't want it to stop, but then Chris hadn't admitted then that he'd hated Pippa. And he did. He hated her so _much_. _Maybe accepting it will help you move on_, a voice from his memories said, and it sounded so much like Leo that he shook it away.

"You weren't the only one who lost eight years that day," Chris said quietly.

Pippa looked up at him. His image wavered through the hot tears she couldn't stop, and she brushed them away angrily. When his image cleared, she could make out the water in his own eyes, the water she knew wouldn't fall until he'd left her presence. She'd heard it, before, once upon a time. _When you abandoned him. When you abandoned him even before he thought you were dead._

Silence settled on them, like a thick jumper that was scratchy and stifling.

"I need some space," Chris said, eventually. "I can't forget what you did to me, how you made me feel."

"All right," Pippa said, her voice broken, her face reddened and darker, like a bruised peach. "I just-"

"You just _what_?" Chris looked at her, and Pippa recoiled at the pain on his face, nestled deep in his eyes, like a glowing ring.

"God, Chris, you don't have to treat me like this," Pippa said, pleading again. "I'm your _mother_."

"Yeah?" Chris questioned briefly. "You haven't been my _mother_ for the last twenty-one years." Anger rang in his voice, rang into the attic, rang in her ears like a death knoll. "So why are you starting now?"

It was the tiredness in his voice that got her, that winded her and made her breathless. She nodded unsteadily, got to her feet, and left him alone in the darkness and drifting shadows of the attic.

Drifting down the stairs as if she was almost in a dream, she almost made it to the hallway stairs before everything crashed down inside her. She lowered herself to the carpet, unable to stand, tears still standing like war wounds on her cheeks. _I made this_, she realised. _I made him like this_._ It's my fault_. She vaguely registered that maybe Barbas was still hanging around, and didn't care. She deserved to feel this depressed.

"Mom?"

Pippa whirled at the sound of the word, using the banister behind her to lever herself up. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Eyes like deep whirlpools smirked at her, grabbed her by the wrists, and only when the strangled scream emerged from her throat, resounding around the house, did she realise that it was too late. Wyatt had her, and maybe this time there would be no escape…

**

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**


	29. Chapter the Twentyninth

_"When three planets burn as one over a sky of dancing light, and magic will rest on a holy day to welcome a twice-blessed child."_

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**Neurotic**

* * *

**Disclaimer**: If Charmed belonged to me, someone would have died of brain failure by now. 

**Summary:** His name isn't Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

**Happy birthday Teal-lover! (hugs)**

* * *

**Chapter the Twenty-Ninth**

Endgame

* * *

The scream echoed on and on in the house even though the screamer was long gone.

Chris felt disbelief rise within him,like a bubble bursting to get loose, and he ran for the door, skidding down the steps, just in time to see Wyatt orb away with Pippa.

He faintly registered Paul and Piper at the bottom of the stairs, shouting, but he couldn't hear them. He could only hear his own heart-beat. It sounded like guilt to him, and he shook it away. He had to find her. He had to tell her he didn't mean to hurt her like that.

He closed his eyes, trying to sense her, and failing. He locked gazes with Paul, who was running to him, who was staring at the spot on the carpet where Pippa had been, who was shaking Chris, and Chris looked up at him with dead eyes, uncomprehending.

Bones suddenly turned to liquid, and he fell to the floor, with Paul still hanging onto him. Maybe Paul was hitting him now, trying to wake him up, but he just wanted to sink down, down, down... _Let me be!_

"Chris, we'll find her, we'll find her, I promise, I promise."

...and Paul was babbling, and still shaking him, and Chris couldn't do _anything_.

"She's gone." Chris was surprised that the words were his own. The voice sounded foreign to him, the words even more so. He looked up at Paul, and suddenly Paul was ten years old again to him, fragile and needing protection from his older brother. He blinked, and then Paul was older than him, and he sought comfort from that presence. His vision swam again, and he just stared at a blank section of wall. _She's gone._

"Freaking out won't get her back," Paul was saying, with a dark look on his face. "This is my fault. If I'd just kept pretending I was bad, I could have kept him away from her..."

_My fault?_ The words filtered through to Chris, and he looked up at Paul, heavy-lidded. "My fault," Chris repeated, and hung his head. "I said some bad things. I said some really bad things, Paul."

Paul's eyes were muted in understanding as he clung to Chris' elbows, holding him elbow.

"I said she- I said she wasn't-"

"Sshhh." Paul yanked Chris closer. "Sshhh, it's okay. She knows you didn't mean it."

"How?" Chris yanked his head up, and his eyes were reddened and bloodshot.

"I know you didn't mean it," Piper said, unsteadily, not quite sure what she was saying. "Worst comes to worst, and this happens to _me_ in the future- We all know we say stupid things when we're angry. Hell, I do it all the time."

Chris lowered his face, and nodded through tightly screwed-up eyes. "Yeah," he whispered brokenly, and lifted his tear-stained face to her. "Well, if that happens, sorry in advance?"

Piper nodded, feeling the hurt radiating from him. "Yeah. But right now, we need to focus. We've lost Phoebe, Paige and now... me. There's got to be a reason for that and it can't be good. We need help."

"I'll call Cole at the club," Paul said, reluctantly releasing Chris as he got to his feet. "He can take over from me with the book if I explain what he needs to do. We need all the magic we can get to find Phoebe and mom."

"Right," Piper said. "Chris, you and I will scry for Pippa, okay?"

Chris nodded, suddenly brisk and business-like. "It might help if we scry with Wyatt." His eyes darkened.

"Wyatt?" Piper's eyebrows rose. "Won't we just get- here?"

"Hopefully there'll be two spots of resonance," Chris said absently.

"I'm just going to pretend I understood that," Piper said awkwardly, squinting at him. Chris smiled slightly, sheepishly.

"Come on," he said, as the sound of Paul dialling filtered up the stairs.

"I'll just get Wyatt," Piper said, turning to go and fetch him.

Chris put his hand on her arm. "I'll do it," he mumbled. She looked at him with curious eyes. "You shouldn't be lifting anything heavy at the moment."

* * *

Chris entered with Wyatt to find Piper had already spread the map out. He glowered at her as he sat down with Wyatt in his arms, but she glowered right back. 

"I'm pregnant, not incapable," Piper snapped.

"Sorry," he said.

"You don't sound sorry."

Chris narrowed his eyes, and picked up the scrying crystal. Letting the crystal fall, the string tautened in his grip, and the crystal started to move around the map.

"I'll try and put more emotion in it next time," he said dryly. The crystal started to judder over the position of the manor, and Chris edged with his wrist. It began to circle again. His eyes worried over the map as it moved. "Piper?"

"Yes?"

"I-" He bent his head, and his hair fell in front of his eyes likea heavy curtain. "I should- I should tell you-" But the crystal shuddered to a halt, and he lifted his head like a startled gazelle. "It's there!"

He leapt up, and looked down at where the crystal had landed. "It's a park near Chinatown," he said, looking up at her excitedly. "It's-" He froze.

Piper watched the excitement fade out of his face until he looked completely drained of colour. "What? Is it- in a bad place? A demon hive? A hell mouth? A Walmart?"

Chris managed to return to life enough to throw a wan smile at her. "No." With a shaky voice, he looked at her. "Do you notice anything different in this room?" He paused for emphases. "Something missing?"

Piper frowned at the question, unsure of what he was asking. Even Wyatt had quietened, and was sucking on his thumb as he idly looked between them. "No," she said. "I don't see anything missing except for my sisters."

Chris moved his gaze to the corner of the attic, and she followed his gaze to the large boulder that sat in the corner. The large rock was casting a hazy shadow onto the floor, and it's curved surface seemed even craggier when highlighted by the attic's lighting. Piper's mouth dropped open in a hazy realisation. "Excalibur," she whispered, but it sounded so loud in the attic that it echoed in her ears. "Excalibur's missing."

She turned to see Chris' reaction, and he was looking physically sick.

"What's the matter?" Piper asked, even as she felt dread in the pit of her own stomach.

"Wyatt only ever used Excalibur in the future," Chris said unevenly, "for the really big kills."

Piper let the news sink over her, and she nodded slowly. "Leo," she said. "We need Leo."

* * *

Chris raised his eyes at Leo's speechless reaction. Leo looked completely flumoxed, like he'd been blindsided by a flying pixie. 

"He's going to kill her," Chris said, and his voice broke. Paul looked at him with concern, and moved closer, impulsively taking Chris' hand. Chris looked at him gratefully.

"I wish I could help," Cole said, a little unsuredly. "But Paul's right, having him there is better than my presence." He looked at the book in his hands, and clicked the biro he was holding. "I'll try and help Paige and Dan out of here as quick as I can."

"Thank you, Cole," Piper said, her eyes large with worry.

"And I'll babysit Wyatt too, if you want," Cole said, as he thought of it. "I'm sure I can write and look after him."

Chris nodded his thanks, after feeling awkward that he hadn't even thought about Wyatt's younger self. The two were divided in his head, and the same. It was confusing to say the least.

"We have to accept that it's a trap of some kind," Chris said, his voice stronger now even while indecision was written in the despair in his eyes. "Wyatt wouldn't stay in one place unless he wanted us there."

"I've still got my powers," Piper said. "And three of you can orb - we can get out of there if it's something we can't handle." She smiled widely, but a hint of nervousness shone on her face, and her hand strayed protectively to her stomach. "Besides, we haven't met anything yet that has taken us out."

"I picked up some of the potions Paige made before she left," Paul said, displaying a cloth bag of vials. "They're some of the general vanquishing ones that Chris advised her to make."

"From the Map," Leo said, his mouth quirking.

"You and your Maps," Paul said, rolling his eyes. "But if Wyatt's enticed a lot of demons to attack us we should be able to beat a fair few of them back with these."

"We should all take some," Piper said, and Paul quietly doled out some of the vials.

"We ready?" Chris questioned.

"Yeah," Piper said. She reached out and gripped Leo's hand tightly, who looked down at her with a similar worry brewing in his eyes. _This is our son who's gone psychotic. We have to fix this._

"Let's go."

* * *

The first thing Piper saw was a mass body of clear sparkling water. It was the kind of blue you only ever really saw on a film when a blue filter had been applied. It was beautiful, and was only enhanced by the delicate pink blossoms that intruded along the edges of the water. 

Beautiful trees arched over the cool blue surface, with intricate blossoms and branches that stretched forward like prayers. Beside her, Chris was fidgeting a little, and that was when she realised what kind of blossoms they were.

Cherry blossoms.

"This isn't- This isn't where your mother died, is it?" Piper asked, suddenly worried.

Chris blinked, surprised. His voice was quiet. "No. I've never been here before."

"There's no one here," Paul said stupidly, blurting it out as he looked around.

"Then Wyatt must be hiding for some reason," Chris said, shrugging. "Maybe he's waiting for something." Chris stepped forwards, and Piper shouted in surprise as a bright light surrounded him and suddenly he looked ten years younger.

Chris looked down at himself in bewilderment, and Paul burst out laughing.

"Shut up," Chris ground out, stepping backwards and returning to his previous self, looking intrigued despite himself. "This must be one of those time distortion phase thingies Paige always used to go on about."

"Dude," Paul said, stepping forwards. Instantly he became a floppy haired moppet, about three-foot tall and round-faced. Chris sniggered a little, and Paul stepped out. "Cool!"

"I don't think I'll try that," Piper said warily, looking at the slightly shimmering area of space. "As much as I'd love to be twenty-odd again, I'm too worried for my baby."

Paul glanced shrewdly at Chris, who pulled a face, and probably would have retorted with something had he not spotted what he had.

An inky blackness swelling in the clear blue depths of the water.

"He's forming a whirlmire!" Paul shrieked in horror, stumbling backwards. Chris fell back too, and Piper and Leo exchanged a look.

"A whirlmire?" Piper blurted, confused.

Leo bodily took hold of her and yanked her backwards. His eyes were shuttered and black. "It's a way of distorting water with magic. It's instant death for any who touch its surface."

They retreated to a safer distance.

"Thought you'd find me here."

They looked in horror as adult Wyatt strode out as if from nowhere, standing in front of the growing whirlmire, a spinning pool of deepest black. A bound and gagged Pippa was being dragged along in one hand, and in the other Excalibur glimmered.

"This is only a warning for you," Wyatt said calmly. Pippa did not struggle. The sweat standing on her bowed forehead attested that she was probably drugged. "I do not take betrayal lightly." He raised the arm holding Excalibur back.

**"NO!"** Chris jerked forwards, and Leo dived forwards to hold him back. "Let me go, you bastard!" Chris hissed to Leo, his eyes burning with fury.

"Paul, stop!" Piper screamed.

Wyatt just laughed, and flung his arm forward. The blade slid through Pippa easily, and her body twitched as it skewered her. Her cropped black hair fell forwards, covering her face. Wyatt yanked the blade out and lifted her body into the air, before easily tossing it behind him. She fell with a graceful arch through the air, landing in the roaring whirlmire and disappearing.

"NO!" Paul screamed his time, and Leo wasn't quick enough to hold Paul back.

Chris howled and struggled uselessly against Leo's firm grasp.

Paul ran, his dark eyes blazing, and he pelted full speed towards Wyatt. A door closed in Wyatt's eyes, and he lifted blood-stained Excalibur easily. Paul's fragile body had no chance as the sword flashed in the air, and speared through his stomach. Crying out softly, Paul dropped to the floor. Wyatt gestured easily, and Paul's body slid from the sword before being slammed through the air. His body fell at an awkward angle before making contact with the whirlmire, and then he was gone.

* * *

**T - 24**

* * *


	30. Chapter the Thirtieth

"_But even so, I mean, it can't be good for him. Even if he can handle the demons, he must sense the tension which means at the very best we end up with a neurotic infant."_

* * *

**Neurotic**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me. (brain melts) 

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

* * *

**Chapter the Thirtieth**

"**Resurrection"**

* * *

"PAUL!"

Chris managed to rip himself out of Leo's grasp, but his legs gave out beneath him and he crumbled onto his knees, his fingers clutching the grass as he looked up at Wyatt.

Wyatt just laughed, and waved his hand. The whirlmire started to contract, spitting out sparks of black, spinning inwards and collapsing on itself.

"This is what happens when family betrays me," Wyatt said coolly, his voice dancing on the light breeze, his words sinking in their stomachs. Piper clutched onto Leo in disbelief. Surely this cold being could not- could not- could never be- _Please never be._ "You should have known this lesson well, though, Chris. Perhaps another lesson-"

But then something struck Wyatt, making him stumble slightly, and he turned wide eyes upon what must have hit him, but he saw nothing. He looked at Chris, who was just as bewildered as he. Chris couldn't muster the strength to even move.

Wyatt looked at his hand in disbelief, and that was when Chris realised that it was Excalibur, twitching in his hand, moving Wyatt… _But it's never done that before_.

Then there was a blinding flash that illuminated the area, throwing tree silhouettes upon the ground like stretching hands, reaching out to strangle them, and Chris looked up into the source of the blinding light, caught orb lights, and was confused.

By the time the light came away, they saw Excalibur fly out of Wyatt's hand, being caught by a hand. A familiar hand.

"Paul?"

Chris forced the name out of his throat, raw from his shouting from before.

It was Paul. Standing there as if he hadn't even been stabbed. _The clone? But no, that's not possible, I stopped that… Right?_ Chris didn't understand. He wanted so desperately to understand.

Paul took a cool look at the length of the metal in his hand. "You have to love the prophecy about this thing. It says it's destined for the son of a Charmed one." His eyes hardened like flint as he looked coolly at Wyatt. He smiled, a delicious irony sliding onto his face. "But it doesn't say which one."

He flung his hand forward, and Excalibur sliced through the air, barely missing Wyatt before returning to Paul's hand. Paul gazed upon the slightly unsure Wyatt, cool and aloof with the stance of a king. Unperturbed and unmovable.

"How-" Wyatt blurted. It had been so long since Chris had seen his older brother unravelled so much, and it just added to the surreality of the events _but she's gone, she's gone, she's not coming back, but Paul came back, maybe, maybe-_

"That day eight ago you killed me." Paul stared instead at the cool blade, rather than at the look on Wyatt's face.

"But-"

"You didn't expect me to survive," Paul said. "My survival only forced you to change your plans. As for _how_ I survived…" Paul stalked casually over to where Chris knelt in the grass. He bent down and scanned Chris' face, and Chris looked blankly back at him, incomprehensible. He took Chris' hand in his spare one, and Chris looked slowly down at it. It was grazed somehow, blood dripping onto the grass below. Chris blinked very slowly, he hadn't even _noticed_, it must have happened when he was struggling in Leo's grasp.

Paul let go of Chris' hand, but it hovered in the air as if Chris was unsure of how to move after the impact of the last ten minutes. Paul, exhaling sadly, passed his hand over the top of the graze. A golden light splashed down on it, healing the graze, knitting the skin together.

"You're a Whitelighter." Chris' voice was steadier than he thought it should be. Years of practising composure had given him an innate steadiness in even the weirdest situations.

Paul nodded, and cast a look up at Wyatt. He locked gazes with him. "Yes," he said, slightly smugly, "I am."

"It makes no difference," Wyatt said, tossing his head a little. "This was just a warning, anyway."

"You murder your own mother and it's a warning," Paul said mockingly. "Gee, I'd hate what to see what a _real_ message from you would be."

Wyatt smiled slowly. Chris felt like someone had just poured ice down his spine when he saw that smile. He shivered, and remembered a thousand things that choked him up, a thousand things that had happened while Wyatt smiled that smile.

"Oh, you will, Paul. You will." Wyatt shimmered away without any warning, the last remnants of the whirlmire disappearing into vapour with him.

Apparently that was all the bravado Paul could muster, for he started to tremble and he collapsed to his knees, staring at the lake in disbelief. The surface that was an instance entrance to death mere minutes beforehand was an unbroken mirrored surface.

"She's gone." Paul's voice was not steady like Chris'. It was anguished and reedy, and it cracked awkwardly part of the way through.

"No, no, no. No, she's not. It's not- she can't- I mean she came _back_." Chris staggered to his feet, made it a few steps forward, and fell again. It was if all the life had drained from his limbs. He staggered up again, determined. His eyes surveyed the surface of the lake. Then he orbed.

All three of them looked around in consternation, until orb lights appeared again over the surface of the lake, and a figure fell into the water.

"Chris?"

Chris splashed to the surface, took a deep breath, and dived. There was a lot of disturbance as he emerged again before submerging. The smooth surface of the lake dissolved into ripples. He dived again, and again, and Paul's eyes widened as he realised what he was doing.

"He's looking for her," Paul said, one hand rising involuntarily to his mouth. "He's-"

Leo looked at him heavily, and then walked to the edge of the water, dodging the age-changing field, as Chris emerged again, coughing and spluttering a little. "Chris."

Chris looked at him hollowly, his hair plastered to his head and cheeks, and he sneezed. "She was right here." He span in a desperate circle, water splashing through his hands. He suddenly looked very small and very alone. "She was- She was-"

Leo looked at him in heavy sympathy, and lowered himself into the water. He gathered Chris into his arms, to soothe him. "Let's get you home," he said, locking gazes with a worried Piper as she looked down at them. "Paul, you can handle Piper, right?"

* * *

"You're being double-crossed, you ignorant freaks! Get out of the car! _Get OUT OF THE CAR!_" 

When one has been in a tense, horrid situation involving the death of another, often humour can be a way to salve that tension, and retract the horror of the events a little, if only for a few moments.

Hearing Cole yell at the book within which Paige and Dan were currently trapped was enough to salve a little of the tension that had built up seeing Pippa's horrendous death. Chris burst out laughing, hiding his dripping head on Leo's shoulder, Piper sniggered, and Paul leant on Excalibur like it was a walking stick.

"You're one of those people that yell at quiz show contestants, aren't you?" Piper asked wryly.

Cole flushed. "Sorry. But your sister is a pig-ignorant little freak, and that dunderhead she's with is just as stupid. I made the tyre blow out on their car to warn them they were heading into a trap, and what do they do? Hang _around_ with the double crossing freak!" He fumed indignantly, and then looked at the four who had orbed in. His face suddenly changed from indignant to brittle, brisk, business-like. "What happened?" His voice was soft, low.

The mood of the four instantly changed.

"I'll go set Excalibur back in the stone," Paul muttered, heading up the stairs.

Piper sighed, feeling a little sick _seeing your own death does that to you_. She looked at Leo and Chris. "You two might want to go get dried up," she said, waving them vaguely in the direction of the stairs. "Your clothes are still in my closet," she added to Leo, casting a downwards look at the floor. That look spoke volumes to Leo, and, incredibly touched, he tugged on Chris' arm.

"Come on, buddy," Leo murmured, and he too most of Chris' weight on himself as they walked up the stairs to Piper's bedroom.

Piper watched them go, and their closeness sparked something in her. Memories flooded through her, as if there was a fragment of a truth she could just pick up on and then everything would be clear. She turned back to Cole, who was looking at her worriedly. Sighing, she moved over the table and gingerly sat down in a chair.

"Ma?" Wyatt gurgled happily up at her from his playpen, down by the table, and she sighed and lifted her hand down to play with his hair. Her fingers tousled his soft, golden locks.

"Where do we go so wrong with you, hmm?" She longed to pick him up, but remembered Chris' soft words of before, and knew it might not be a good idea for the sake of her unborn child. Sighing, she bent down, and leant her cheek against his. _He's capable of destroying me,_ she thought, but no self-survival instinct kicked in. _I could never kill him to save myself._

"What happened?" Cole said, breaking Piper out of her spiralling thoughts, and she blinked up at him sadly. "I thought five of you left," he added, his voice sounding uncertain.

Piper nodded heavily, and started to relate the tale of what had befallen them.

* * *

"This shirt smells of her." 

Leo looked up as Chris came back into the bedroom, looking a lot smaller in the large plaid shirt he was swamped in. Chris was a lot leaner than Leo, but would not have fitted into any of Piper's normal clothes, and had pulled a face when Leo had offered him a large maternity t-shirt of Piper's.

"I guess it's because she's kept them in her closet," Leo said. He sat on the edge of the bed, and awkwardly patted the cover, wanting Chris to join him, to talk. Surprisingly, Chris moved, as if thinking of things to do by himself were too hard. Chris sank onto the very edge of the bed, and stared forwards into space.

"Yeah, that makes sense," he said absently.

"At least she got some time with you and Paul," Leo said softly, looking at Chris' face and hating the blank slate. No emotion was playing on Chris' face at all.

"Yeah," Chris said, a sarcasm filtering through his voice. He edged a look at Leo, who was looking confused. "I had an argument with her," he said, in a very small voice. "Just before she was taken." His gaze fell to the floor, to his bare feet. He waggled them against the carpet slowly, and then fell still.

"I'm sure she knew you didn't mean anything bad," Leo said, trying to comfort his son.

Chris jerked a look at him. "How? How can you know for sure?" He shook his wet hair a little, and wished he'd brought the towel in with him.

"Because that's who she is," Leo said, his voice warm but tense with an open longing for what he no longer had. He thought of her soft smile, her glowing skin, the curve where her neck met her shoulder, and missed her. Seeing Pippa, die, like that… He should have _stopped _it! And he damn well would stop it from happening to his Piper…

"I just- I was so _awful_. I said-" He paused, awkwardly. "I said she wasn't my mother. I said she never had been."

Leo looked at him in a saddened understanding. He couldn't form what he wanted to say in words, and he hoped he could communicate it to Chris in another way. Their gazes locked, and Chris' sea-green eyes were awash with deeper water, that spilled onto his cheeks and stained them.

"And she was right here, I could have told her, could have told her I loved her, that I missed her, and I _didn't_, I _couldn't_, I-" And Chris brought both his hands to his mouth, and he trembled, and Leo shuffled forwards and followed his instincts, bringing Chris to him in a hug.

Tears were blinding his own vision, and he folded his fingers in the shirt on Chris' back. Piper's fragrance reached his nose, and he realised Chris was right – the shirt did smell of her.

Chris pulled back a little, his cheeks red, his eyes sparkling with the most vivid shade of green that Leo thought had ever seen. Leo raised his hand to wipe away Chris' tears, and his hand lingered to push hair away from Chris' face.

"She knew you loved her," Leo said, his voice trembling. "She knew it."

"Yeah," Chris said, his voice still a little doubtful. "Thanks, dad."

Leo smiled blindingly at the epithet, and Chris blushed a little when he realised what he'd said.

"_Dad_?"

Chris froze as he recognised the voice, and Leo's stomach churned a little. _Oh, god…_ Chris twisted, looking up at Piper with an anguished look, one that shimmered to apologetic. Leo moved off the bed, and slowly guided Piper to sit there. She looked between them, her eyes widened.

After looking beseechingly at Leo for help, Chris turned to Piper and felt a wary strength fill him when Leo put a hand on his shoulder. He reached forward and took Piper's hand between his own.

With strength, he looked up at her. Tears were still falling, but he couldn't stop them, and it didn't seem to be of any consequence, compared to this.

He looked at his mother with a look of such love and adoration that Piper felt her heart resonate with his quiet, truthful words, as if she'd heard those words before, as if she'd known the truth her whole life.

"My name's not Chris Perry" Chris said, as if it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

* * *

**T - 23**

* * *


	31. Chapter the Thirtyfirst

"_Look on the bright side, growing up with your sisters he was bound to be neurotic anyway."

* * *

_

**Neurotic

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

* * *

**Chapter the Thirty-first**

"Return To Me**"**

**

* * *

**

"My name's not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell." 

Phoebe gasped aloud at Chris' quiet admission, and squealed excitedly. Piper not knowing had been literally _killing_ her, and now she knew! Bending down, she looked up to see Piper's expression, hoping her slightly neurotic sister would take this well.

Piper's cheeks flushed awkwardly. "I- I knew that," she said stupidly.

A little overwhelmed, Chris just stared at her a little.

"I didn't _know_ know," Piper said, frowning as she tried to phrase it properly. "And I definitely didn't know a few weeks back… but lately, I've just _felt_ it… and because I didn't _know_ know about it, my thoughts didn't make sense… Did that make any sense?"

Chris bent his head down, and it took Phoebe a little while to realise he was laughing gently. He raised his head, and forced his face into a serious expression. "Absolutely none at all," he deadpanned, as steadily as he could manage. The corner of his mouth twitched, giving himself away a little.

Phoebe knew that expression so well. It was the restrained expression Piper always had when she was trying to stop herself from laughing. It turned out Chris was better at it than Piper, because Chris wasn't laughing now. Piper, by now, would have burst out laughing.

"And you knew," Piper said, edging a look at Leo, but not removing her hands from Chris'. Their light presence gave her hope, and it fluttered awkwardly in her stomach. "You knew he was-"

"-our son," Leo said, looking softly at Chris, who squinted a little at the attention. "Yes." He smiled wryly. "You know I got him mad."

"I can't help it," Chris grouched. "My brain can't figure out how to keep secrets when I'm not being quiet."

"I'll remember that for the future," Piper interjected, her eyes sparkling.

"Anyway, I sort of—accused him of getting me out of the way so he could have _you_ all for himself," Leo said, fidgeting, but also unwilling to move his hand from Chris.

Phoebe snickered, amused that no one could actually hear her doing so. If she'd actually been there, for one she would have probably blurted out the secret already, and two, Piper would have been smacking her really hard right about now.

"Aw, who can blame me?" Chris instantly countered.

"That's sweet, but as soon as you're born, you're grounded," Piper warned him. Chris pulled a face. Piper's own words hit her. "So _that's_ how you knew so exactly when the baby was due!"

"Because I _am_ the baby," Chris said, his eyes widening almost comically for a second. "Yeah, I know it's weird…"

"You can say that again," Piper remarked dryly.

"I know it's weird."

"Brat."

"But I'm _your_ brat," Chris returned easily. "I-" He looked down softly. "I was trying to tell you, before the crystal found- found where we were going."

_So he _had _been trying to tell her…_ As Phoebe had watched the two interact over the map, she had been certain Chris was about to blurt it out to Piper, and had jumped up and down excitedly before the crystal had shuddered to a halt. And Chris had shut up. Only for an even worse revelation to come out. _Wyatt only used Excalibur for the really big kills._

A really big kill. Wyatt must have deliberately come back and stolen Excalibur, meaning to kill Pippa, and very probably Chris, too.

"It's okay," Piper said, a small smile twitching onto her face. "I understand. Besides, you have to be the first Halliwell to be able to survive for so long in another time period without someone finding out who you are. _We _tend to slip within minutes."

Chris smiled. "I know." He was suddenly quiet, and he pulled his hands away reluctantly from Piper's. "It just seems- completely unreal." He smiled bitterly. "Now my- my mom really _is_ dead, and Paul was- Paul was all along…"

_Hug him! For crying out loud, hug him, you mindless moron!_ Phoebe felt like shrieking at her sister, but knew it wouldn't do any good. A mixed look flittered over Piper's face, like a bird flapping its wings, until a firm look of resolution settled on it. Perhaps Phoebe's message had got through, because she leaned forwards and pulled a startled Chris forwards.

She petted his hair as she hugged him, and closed her eyes. "It's going to be all right. I promise."

Chris looked as if he was going to protest, but he fell silent and leant into the hug instead.

* * *

Cole and Paul were bent furtively over the book when Piper, Leo and Chris came back down the stairs. Chris was helping Piper down the stairs, and she wasn't protesting. When she got to the seat, she smiled and touched his cheek. 

"Get me a strong, black caffeine-free coffee with no evil potion in, won't you, peanut?" Piper asked, grinning at him.

Chris blinked, a little flummoxed. "You haven't called me peanut in _years_," he complained, but he slumped off to the kitchen anyway. "You at your sugar phase yet?"

Piper frowned a little. "Uh-" She pressed her lips together. "You know, I am craving something sweet, but not sugar…"

"Hazelnut and raisin cookies?" Chris guessed.

"That's my boy."

Even though he knew he should be working, Paul looked between Piper and Chris in amazement. "He TOLD you!" Paul yelled triumphantly, punching the air with his fist. "Man, oh man, oh man!"

"I did better than you," Chris sniffed back on his way into the kitchen. "You were here, what? A couple of days? I had _months_ on you."

"What_ev_er," Paul retorted. He edged a look back to the book. "Um, I'm going to help Cole again," he said quickly. Chris just shrugged at him, and went off to the kitchen.

"Who told who what?" Cole asked him, perplexed.

"Chris is my son too," Piper said, taking pity on Paul, who looked a little torn, as if maybe he'd misinterpreted the situation wrong and he didn't want to land Chris in it if he was wrong.

"…"

"That was about my reaction, too," Leo informed him solemnly.

"You know what," Cole said to Paul faintly, "your family is screwed up."

"Eh, you married into it," Piper said, rolling her eyes.

"Got myself out of it, too," Cole sniffed, looking down at the book. He read the prose that was developing on the page thoughtfully and turned to Paul. "Has Paige ever done anything to embarrass you?"

"Well, she's my aunt, of course she has," Paul said, pulling a face at a memory.

"I could write in a sex scene." Cole's eyes were twinkling.

"Ewww! You're sick! Sick, sick, sick."

.Chris looked at Paul from the kitchen door curiously.

"You're really strange, you know that?" Chris said.

Paul rolled his eyes. "You know, there's that old saying. Something about a pot, and a kettle, and the blackness of them…"

"Are you going to argue with your brother all day, 'cause I could use some help here," Cole said. "Lana and the dunderhead have been caught by the police."

* * *

The sound of Dan being hit in the other room caused Paige to lurch to her feet. An inspector who called himself Davis grabbed her by the arm and flung her back into the chair. She glared at him and held her arm. 

This was all her fault! She ought to know the tire going flat was too much of a cliché for it to be in the original plot. Whoever was helping them must have added it, and because she didn't see it, Dan was in danger. Because of her.

"You're not goin' anywhere, Sweetheart," Davis drawled, his hands on her shoulders. "Now, unless you want him to end up with a bullet in his ear ... you'll tell us where the Falcon is. Understand?"

Paige struggled. "Get your paws off of me!"

Davis did, but he crossed his arms and leered at her anyway. "So tell me, what's a cute, little package like you doing mixed up with that no-good dunderhead in there?"

Paige turned to head, as if she could see the wall and see Dan. She turned back to Davis, fire in her eyes. "Drop dead," she hissed.

"Come on, Paige. Don't you know how to play the game?" Davis said, with a smirk.

Paige was about to retort when she realised what he's said. All the other characters had called her _Lana_. "Paige?" She muttered to herself in disbelief. _Don't you know how to play the game?_ It was a hint, from whomever was helping her on the outside.

"Oh ... you're a little heartbreaker, aren't you? A regular femme fatale." Davis purred.

Smirking, Paige twisted her lips and got to her feet. She pursed her lips and tried to look provocative.

"Maybe I am," she said, deepening her voice to a sexier tone. "Maybe I'm not. Maybe I'm just crazy, crazy for cops, tough cops. The kinda cops that'll arrest your heart, make you long for a life sentence with 'em." She smiled, and tugged the inspector's tie, yanking him bodily to her. "You know any cops like that?"

* * *

Lieutenant Snyder reared and back and smacked Dan, and he fell to the floor, a mess of hair and bruises and blood from the grazes. 

"We can keep this up all night if you like," Snyder said menacingly, "or you can tell me where the Falcon is and I'll end it quick."

Dan swallowed hard as the Lieutenant took out his gun and pointed it at him. "That's not much of a choice, is it?"

"I thought it was rather generous," Snyder drawled. "Either you die fast or you beg for death, but either way, I'm getting the Falcon out of you first."

The door slammed open then, and Dan was almost too terrified to look, wondering if another corrupt cop was in to join the other one.

His summoned all the courage he could muster and looked anyway. He'd never seen anything so glorious in his life. Paige was stood there, pointing a gun directly at Snyder's head. A smirk was on her face.

"Dan!"

Dan took his change, and tripped Snyder. Snyder fell to the ground with a startled "_oomph!_" and Dan knocked the gun out of his hand. It skidded to the floor and Dan picked it up, before crossing over to Paige. Paige dropped her gun to the floor in relief, a look of distaste crossing her face that she'd even had to pick it up.

"You all right?" she asked.

"I'll live," Dan said. "How'd you get in here?"

"Well, I seduced a cop, grabbed his gun, and knocked him out, all thanks to someone in the family," Paige said.

"Who?"

"I don't know, but we're getting a little magical help from someone who knows my name," Paige said. "That's the whole flat tire thing. They were warning us about the trap. Doesn't matter. You're right, Eddie's not an innocent."

"Actually, I think that you were right," Dan said. "I think that he is. Come on, I'll explain on the way. We gotta find him."

* * *

It was a good hour later, and Piper and Leo and Chris was all engaged in a heavy conversation involving the book and some sort of Map that they kept blathering on about. Cole didn't want to know. Paul had gone to use the bathroom, and Cole was left staring as Paige and Dan ran off willy-nilly to look for the idiot who had double-crossed them in the first place. 

"Cole? Can I have a word with you?"

Cole looked up from tapping his pen impatiently on the table-top, to see Paul looking at him, toeing the ground with his shoes and twisting a lock of hair between his fingers.

Startled, he nodded. "Sure."

Paul reluctantly pulled up a chair and sat down next to Cole, shifting the chair closely and lowering his voice like he didn't want to be heard. "I need you to hurry up and get Paige and Dan out of there as fast as you can," he said, unsteadily.

Cole blinked, and retorted angrily, "What do you think I've been doing?"

Paul looked down, his lips pressed together. "I'm running out of time," he said quietly, before looking back up at him. His dark eyes flashed.

"What do you mean you're running out of time?"

"I-" Paul bit on his lower lip worriedly, and he looked around. Piper, Leo and Chris weren't paying attention to them. "I…" He brought up his hand and a silence barrier shimmered easily around them. "I have to tell someone who can help me, but I can't let anyone else know. It's imperative no one knows this."

"Wha-"

Cole was cut off by Paul shrugging up his right sleeve. Paul edged towards Cole so his back was to the living room, and none of them in there could see what he was showing Cole. He extended his arm forwards. Cole inhaled as he realised just exactly what Paul meant. A large section of his arm was almost see-through. Paul looked at him heavily, as if trying to implicate the importance of this face through his gaze.

"I need Paige and Dan out of there in the next twenty-four hours, if not _way_ before that," Paul said, hesitantly, breathing hard, "or I cease to exist. Believe me, I've done the math. If I'm not conceived by this time tomorrow…"

"If you're not…" Cole's mouth opened, and was moving as if words should be coming out, but none were. "I thought you were _Piper's_ son, why do you need Paige and Dan to-"

Paul looked quietly down at the table. "In my timeline, Paige and Piper were pregnant at the same time. Paige, in a vision quest, saw a part of the future in which Chris was convinced that Wyatt was evil, but no one believed her. When Piper suffered a miscarriage around the same time Paige gave birth to her baby, Paige was so distraught she made Piper raise me as her own."

"That's- quite a story," Cole said, scanning over him slowly.

"It's true." Paul looked down again. "Will you help me?"

"As much as I can, yes," Cole said. He moved back to start writing in the book again, and then looked up at Paul. "I told you before, but I'll say it again. Your family is completely screwed up, you know that?"

Paul laughed, and dispelled the silence barrier. "You used to be part of it, you know."

Cole looked around a little furtively, before asking, "Does Chris know?"

"No, no one knew except- Except Pippa." Paul looked into the distance, a little sad.

Cole couldn't think of anything to say to that. He patted Paul's hand awkwardly. "We'll get them out," he said. Paul didn't look like he believed them. He lowered his voice. "Still don't want me to put in that sex scene?"

Paul just rolled his eyes and smacked Cole, hard. "Bitch," he sniffed.

"Uh, you do know I'm male, don't you? You can't call men bitches," Cole informed Paul solemnly.

"Well, _bastard_, then," Paul said.

"My parents were married when they had me," Cole said primly.

Paul looked at him slowly. "You really have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"Yep."

"Pass the thing over then," Paul commanded, taking the pen from Cole, and shifting the book closer. "I really don't trust you with that any more."

* * *

Phoebe slumped to the ground, in true shock. Paul wasn't Piper's son. Gideon had wanted her out of the way, but now she wondered if he meant to torture her too. It was no secret that she was the worst of the Halliwell secret-keepers. Putting her in a situation where she could learn anything about anyone, but making sure she couldn't _tell_ anyone? 

True, awful torture.

Then it struck her. No one could see her. No one was going to be able to find her, at least not until Paige was out. No one would know she was even there.

And that could be used to her advantage.

_All right, Gideon, _Phoebe said silently, her eyes glimmering with the full realisation of her plan. _Let's pay you a visit and see what you're planning next._

After all, Paige would be free soon, if Paul and Cole had any say about it, and then it wouldn't be long until they could save her… And wouldn't _she_ have some tales to tell then…

* * *

**T - 22

* * *

**


	32. Chapter the Thirtysecond

"_Chris, you know you're the only one who can do this. You're the only one who can save us."

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_

**Neurotic

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

* * *

**Chapter the Thirty-second**

"**Professional"**

**

* * *

**

The sound of water falling was magnified by the dark caverns spinning down into the centre of the Earth for eternity. He stepped forwards cautiously, not betraying his own safety for the sake of immediacy, for the sake of getting out of the place that chilled and frightened him.

He was instantly mad at himself. He shouldn't still_ be _scared of underground places, not really. He'd been to the Underworld a thousand times. _But at least there, it's warm, so warm… Fire undulates on the walls, and no one's even dead, not down there..._ It was one way of looking at things, after all.

But here. _Here._ Here was a lesser form of being underground, where you could still say you were on the planet's surface, where you weren't so close to the centre of the planet that the core heated your every footfall. Here it was cold, and dank, and dark, and you could die down here and no one would ever find you until it was too late. Here was the everyday world's underground. Caves, and caverns, and underground lakes that were black with eternal night.

Here you needed your own light, and a steady heart, and courage. _One out of three isn't bad, though, is it?_

Here you were left with your own thoughts. _Oh god, I hate, I have to be someone I'm _not_, but you were never you anyway, so why does that matter?_

With renewed fire in his eyes, he kept walking. Walking was easy, it was just putting one foot in front of the other, and if he concentrated on that, on walking in a straight line and not banging into walls, and looking out for what he was looking out for, then maybe he wouldn't think of what he had been thinking about since it happened.

Wishful thinking. His steps were staggered, and he couldn't watch his feet and look around, and his thoughts kept going anyway.

He'd come with one mission in mind. Just one mission. Get in, do your job, maybe die trying, but you _do your fucking job_. You get in, get out, and don't tell anyone what they didn't need to know. And now he'd screwed that all up.

He scuffed his trainers as he walked, a little more confidently now. He had twenty-three days. _Folks, the world is going to end in _23 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds. _Eat your heart out, Donnie Darko; we've got five days less than you ever did._

He snorted at himself. _You're comparing yourself to a cult classic movie character. Really. Get in the world of the _now_, and stop being so pathetic._

The sound of the water, still constantly falling, made him want to go to the toilet, but he held in that childish reaction mulishly. He was a grown-up, and by damn he was going to star acting like one.

Of course, that would be just about when life pitches you one of those curveballs.

"ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! GERROF MY FACE! GAHHHHHHH!"

Something had slammed into Chris' light, and then into his face, and, rather unfortunately, partly into his mouth. He lashed out with his hands, smacking his arm into the walls as he did so, and his hand connected with the wall.

Fire lanced metaphorically across his vision, which did little to help his sudden plunge into darkness. He didn't have time to think about that.

Using his telekinesis would probably smack the light too far out of the way, so Chris dived forwards into a neat forward roll his Whitelighter would have been proud of, grabbed the torch triumphantly, and then gestured with all his might at where his attackers dove at him.

There were several indignant shrieks of pain, and then silence.

Groaning, Chris climbed to his feet, and pushed hair out of his eyes. He spat something out into his hand, and grimaced when he saw blood and a black leathery substance. Turning the flashlight onto where he'd used his powers, he saw a small mound of unconscious bats.

"I ate _bat_?"

Frozen, he held his stomach and felt a little sick. He leant against the cavern wall for a moment, idly flashing his torch over the bodies to check they were not vampire bats. If there were vampires down this damn cavern, he was going to… going to… going to…

Actually, there was nothing he could do. He'd written the damn Map and timetabled himself into this very activity. He was a couple of days late with the Map as it was.

That thought caused him to move on from the great place of the bat slaughter with a quickened step. He had no room for luxuries like being scared of the dark. He had no room for self-pity. He had no room to be thinking that it was a place like this in which Paul died, _died_, in which Piper-Pippa-oh-god-damn-it-_mom_ was taken away from him and never really given back.

No room for it.

Involuntarily he checked his pockets again for the small scissors. He knew ripping the plant would cause too much of the juice to spill, and may sever the membrane too slowly and nullify the effects of it. With this plant, they could finally complete a generic protection potion that would give them a fantastic warning system to prevent a demon taking baby Wyatt _or his older self, and why are you still thinking, anyway?_

He knew why he was thinking like this, really, if he- uh- thought about it. It's because ever since he'd got here, he'd alternated between not having a moment to think about himself, and then having too-hyped-up moments of thinking about himself. This moment was probably one of the latter ones, more than having any actual time to himself.

_God forbid _that _actually happening_. He'd known when he came back, when he felt Bianca's warmth still on his skin, in his heart, when she'd pushed him through, that he would not have any real spare time here. He couldn't afford it. The future was more important than him.

But, as Victor had reminded him only this morning, after forcing some surprisingly nice scrambled eggs at him (he'd later admitted an e-mail pal, Samurai Nashie, forwarded the recipe to him at work) maybe he couldn't afford _not_ to have some time to himself.

After all, he'd almost put himself in a nervousness-induced coma the other day.

_But we're so close! And no one else seems to grasp the urgency!_ Except for Paul, quiet Paul, his Paul, Paul who had grown up idolising Chris and following him everywhere he went, until that day everything had gone to hell. _The day that Paul _died_. He died. He really did die, and you left him behind, you left him behind to die. Just like you stood stock-still and let Wyatt kill Leo and Melinda, and just like you let Wyatt kill your mom…_

_Maybe you thought then that one person couldn't change anything, but that's what you're trying to do now, isn't it?_

"Except I'm _not _one person."

Chris was surprised that he'd spoken out loud, and actually stumbled to a halt. He was right, though. Here in the past he wasn't one person, he had his whole family behind him. All this time he'd been whinging about doing this on his own, and he had everyone right there alongside them. It didn't even _matter_ that they didn't seem to find this very urgent, because, if nothing else, that was _his_ job.

He set out with renewed vigour, and then thoughtfully toned the flashlight down to the next setting, which meant it only shone when his thumb depressed the second button. He didn't need to be this scared of the dark any more, and he almost laughed with that revelation. It was if someone had lifted something from him, something heavy, something he hadn't known he'd been carrying all his life.

_Granddad was right. I just needed _time_ to sort this through for myself. Wyatt took mom before I could do this. But I needed to do it so that I can accept that I'm still me, and do what I came here to do_

_Now I can really be the professional that I came here to be._

The acoustics changed as he walked, and sporadically used the light to check where he was going, but he moved with a more confident pace still. The herb grew where no water fell, and the water was getting lighter, but still it wasn't entirely gone. A few metres more, and he'd have to turn the light completely on.

His footsteps were getting louder now, but Chris figured that it was probably because the sounds of the water dripping were getting quieter. He flicked the button on the flashlight again, and started studiously sweeping the tunnel's floor. There was nothing. Cautiously, the hair on the back of his neck sticking up now, he swept the cave for closely.

Nothing.

He walked on for a further kilometre, checking extensively, but when he came to more water, he pulled back and checked the same length of the tunnel again.

This _was_ the only place it grew! He was certain of it! And if it wasn't here… then someone must have moved it!

_Wyatt_.

That thought quickened his breath, and Chris resumed his search desperately. Finally, he caught a glimpse of a dark shade of green, and he bent down, eagerly teasing out the small length of weed from the cave's edge.

There was only a small branch. He searched the surrounding area desperately, but couldn't come up with anything. This was all that was left.

"No…" He went back to the small length of green, examining the end carefully. It had been ripped off. Wyatt must have ripped out the plant, knowing _exactly_ what they planned to do with it. So, for some reason, Wyatt must want his previous self accessible to whoever betrayed them…

That made sense. Wyatt, although consistently desperate to maintain that – to him- good and evil would always have made no sense to him, that power is the only obvious goal to achieve in life, would not want his past to change. He had a lot of power in the future, and a lot of power that he'd brought back with him (although, Chris assumed, he might have had to leave some of it behind.) Changing the past might shift his power base, or make him take longer to achieve the power he had.

Convinced, Chris double checked the tunnel again, knowing now he wouldn't find anything. Wyatt was nothing if meticulous. Downcast, he took the rest of the tunnel at a run, knowing that it didn't curve too badly and that he wouldn't run into the wall.

He reached the outside quickly, and it surprised him, but he remembered his hesitant trek inside, and was renewed by the burst of courage that swelled inside him when he realised he really wasn't that same restricted person any more. That cave, that experience, had been cathartic, if nothing else…

Chris was surprised to find he was breathing heavily, and he bent down, hands on his knees, to regain his breath. That was when he saw it.

The pile of herbs that resembled balm of Gilead, lying discarded near the entrance of the caverns. Small, scrawny, trifoliate leaves, with miniature red flowers and twisted yellow seeds.

He dashed to them wonderingly, feeling the texture of them in his hands, and in his dismay he realised the roots had been torn. Holding them up to the sunlight, his heart skipped a beat. _One of the roots still had its cortex intact._

Quickly, efficiently, he pulled off the rest of the ripped roots, and snipped at the small section that had the cortex intact, and he poured the sap into the vial he had with him. It wasn't much, but it should be enough.

He was about to drop the plant to the ground, but decided to retain it. If Phoebe got back soon, and _oh_ he hoped so, she could maybe get a premonition from it, and see who did it…

For that it was he had just realised.

Wyatt wouldn't have done it. Wyatt would have been thorough, and at least dropped the herb in water, and destroyed any remaining magical property.

Whoever ripped the herb from the wall had done it rapidly, with no finesse. Whoever ripped it wanted it out fast. Whoever ripped it out was obviously concerned about speed, and must think that they were close to being found.

For whoever had done it, Chris knew, was the person who would inevitably betray them… and turn Wyatt…

* * *

**T-21

* * *

**


	33. Chapter the Thirtythird

"_No, it's a note. "_Gone to market. Back soon_.""

* * *

_

**Neurotic

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

* * *

**Chapter the Thirty-third**

"**Betrayal"

* * *

**

Just saying that she had to go find Gideon was a lot easier said than done.

For one, Phoebe had no idea where an Elder would hang out when not Up There. Well, she knew Gideon used to run the magic school, but Leo had said something vaguely along the lines of Gideon not working there any more, and so that was out of the running.

As if she could even get _into_ the Magic School, anyway.

She was thinking along the lines of returning home with her tail between her legs, felt better that no one will have noticed her failure, when the idea really struck her.

Gideon was going to betray them. He was probably recruiting with demons _right at that very moment_.

Inspired by her own genius, Phoebe set out again anew, happily marching down the street with her newly formed idea, when depression struck again. She'd only ever been orbed down to the Underground. She couldn't even accompany Chris if he went down there, something she had seen him do fairly frequently over the last couple of days as he scraped together rare ingredients for an alarm for Wyatt.

Depressed, she continued walking, if only to get away from the house for a couple of hours. Holding in Chris' secret had been bad, but holding in Paul's secret…

She hadn't _meant_ to be standing so close to Cole when Paul had sent up that silence barrier. Really, truly, honestly, she hadn't. Only when he had, she was still stuck inside, and she heard his whispered confession. Paul was Paige's son, and no one – even in his own timeline – knew about it.

Phoebe wondered at Paige's strength to give up her own _child_. Having experienced a vision quest of her own, Phoebe knew how evocative they could be. What Paige had seen must have been truly awful. It took a lot to shake Paige… A damned lot. Paige must have seen more than a younger Chris warning the family that Wyatt was evil. Paige must have seen an atrocious event that Wyatt had committed.

It was the only thing that made any sense at all. Phoebe knew her sister. Paul must have been told that softer version of the vision to cushion the blow of being adopted out to another sister.

She wanted to cry with the frustration of it all. Her own feelings of annoyance at not being back in her plane, where she belonged, were nothing compared to the despair she felt at what the family would suffer in the future. What they would suffer if they couldn't stop Gideon.

Stopping on the sidewalk, she let her gaze linger up one of the trees. Its branches curved up to the sun, worshipping the light and warmth and life it gave it. Sunlight filtered down through the leaves, dappling a light show on her face. She wondered if Chris was back from his expedition yet. He'd mumbled something about being underground, and near water, and hadn't look too pleased about going. From vague memories of her Psych lectures, she wondered if perhaps something unpleasant had happened to him underground, and then didn't want to think about it.

_And you have the luxury of stopping yourself thinking about it. They don't. They've had to live through these awful things, and will live with those memories forever._

Suddenly depressed, Phoebe looked down at the ground, the shadows of leaves flickering over her feet, bared to the sunshine through the thin straps of her sandals. _The world can touch me, but I can't touch it_.

She shook that thought away too. Self indulgence wouldn't get anything done.

She stepped forward, out of the shelter of the tree, and sun bathed her face again. It didn't feel warm, though. She assumed that must be a side-effect of being on a different plane.

_Well, if my Psych lecturer heard me thinking things like _this_, I'd be committed in an instant,_ she thought wryly, and then shivered, as if something had walked right through her. Something in that thought…

She tried to grasp onto it, but the truth fluttered away like a butterfly. Frustrated, she just concentrated on walking. _That's right, one foot in front of the other, nice and steady, and let's try and avoid walking through people, all right?_

Phoebe had managed to distract herself with this, that by the time she looked up she'd walked a fair few kilometres. Looking around in confusion, she tried to place herself. She _knew_ this street.

Frowning, she continued down the familiar sidewalk, and turned the corner. The open market stretched out there, filled with bustling shoppers, and she sighed. _The market. Of course._ She'd been here just last month with Paige, buying some herbs from one of the stalls, and then laughing over some of the clothing. Paige swore by markets. She said that she'd gotten all her college clothing from markets.

_Markets. Markets, markets, markets. THE MARKET!_

Realisation flooded through her like a hot metallic liquid, pooling at the base of her spine. She couldn't believe she'd been so _dumb_.

Running, and not caring now who she ran though, she pelted through the bustle of shoppers, and took the familiar streets and turns and twists to the park up by Sadler St. Dodging through the trees, she ran until she thought her lungs might burst from the effort, and then ran some more. This wasn't a time to wimp out or stop. She _knew_ it was around here somewhere.

She heard a noise. Hoping desperately it was what she was searching for, she skidded through the grass, over the rise, and let out a squeal of success. Two hooded demons, and some kind of wrinkly demon walking through the gateway to the real Black Market.

Not wanting to get left on the other side, Phoebe ran down the hill and skidded through the opening, landing in the gravel on the other side with a thud. The gateway shuddered behind her and disappeared.

Brushing the dust from her knees, Phoebe looked around the market warily. All kinds of evil lurked in this place, as Paige had learned to her cost. Who knew if a demon who could scan different planes was lurking around here? _But if they can do that, maybe they can pull me back to _this_ plane long enough for me to holler for a lift _out_ of here,_ she thought grimly, and with this renewed vigour, she walked more confidently around the market.

She listened closely to some of the conversations, hoping to pick up on some spoken clue about where an external entrance to the Underground could be. She didn't really know what she was going to do when she was down there, she only knew she had to _look_. She had to sneak around (like sneaking around in this state was _hard_) and try and find some mention of Gideon. _Chris goes down there all the time_, she reasoned, _and he always manages to come up with some good titbit of a rumour, and _I_ have the upper hand on him here, seeing as I'm practically invisible!_

Phoebe grimaced as she passed a group of Stegoflails, who were loudly discussing the properties of human eyeballs, and began to wonder if she would ever find anything.

_I can't give up_.

She listened carefully to some Sirens calmly discussing the frivolity of Mer-people, and a couple of Grimlocks debate their shimmering speed, and past some really ugly demons she really didn't know the name of discuss something she couldn't catch the name of, and was about to give up when she saw a familiar face.

"Sigmund?" She blurted out, surprised, and then covered her mouth until she realised no one could hear her. _Why would Sigmund be here, when…?_ That was when her brain kicked in, and she hurried to catch him.

Sigmund _worked_ for Gideon at the magic school.

Phoebe desperately wished that she could physically harm someone in this plane as she neared him. If she _could_, Sigmund would be a mushy pulp on the grass at that exact moment in time.

Instead, she curbed her thirst for revenge, and watched and listened as carefully as she could.

Sigmund was looking nervous. Sweat was standing out on his forehead, and he clearly quivered even though he was standing still.

_Idiot,_ Phoebe thought contemptuously. _Even I know not to show too much fear around demons. You're practically _inviting_ them to vanquish your sorry ass._

A wizened old woman with a formidable chest peered at him through the small window of her stall. Small amounts of powder and vials of liquids were arranged inside her stall, on small collapsible shelves.

"Yes?" The woman croaked.

"Ye- Yenene?"

"That's my name, little man," croaked Yenene, "don't wear it out."

Sigmund visibly quivered again.

"If you're going to stand there all day, mortal-" Yenene started, threateningly.

"I- I- I was looking for some Balm of Gangreal," Sigmund said, really quickly.

"Balm of-" Yenene's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What would you be wanting with that? To _protect_ a good baby?"

"No." Sigmund drew his chin up. "To make sure the Charmed Ones _cannot_ protect their progeny."

Yenene actually laughed at that, a belly laugh that drew the attention of a couple of disgruntled demons, who just as quickly looked away when they realised who they were glaring at.

_This Yenene must be pretty well known,_ Phoebe realised, even as chill grabbed her. _Wait, isn't Balm of Gangreal the stuff Chris went after?_

Coldness clenched around her heart like an icy fist. Chris wouldn't _find_ it if it wasn't there! And if Gideon was wiping out _all_ stores of it…

Phoebe watched, impatient with worry.

"Here you are," Yenene said, her lip curling.

"I-I-I- have payment," Sigmund stuttered.

"I'll let you have it for free," Yenene said. "Lord Below knows the Charmed Ones' firstborn has caused _more_ than enough trouble for me."

"Th-th-thank you," Sigmund stuttered, and Phoebe was so caught up watching the malicious glee flitter over Yenene's sagging face that she completely missed what happened next.

All she knew is that Sigmund had been walking away, the vials clutched in his sweaty, miserable paws, and then- he was on the ground. Phoebe raised her eyes, and couldn't help breathing inwards very rapidly.

Wyatt was stood there.

Phoebe had no doubts that it was him. His eyes were black, like holes, like if you fell into them you would never come out again alive. His hair was lanky, like Paul's had been, and he looked very strong.

"Yenene, Yenene, Yenene," Wyatt breathed coolly. His voice was like ice and splinters on the cold air. "I'm disappointed in you."

Several demons had turned to watch, but none dared yet approach this cool but mysterious stranger in their midst.

"Lord Wyatt-" Yenene breathed.

Wyatt looked at her, hard, before yanking the vials out of Sigmund's grasp and passing them back to her. "You are going to stay here, with these vials, and if the Charmed Ones or my younger brother Christopher comes looking for it, you are going to give it to them. Free of charge."

Yenene trembled. "I- Yes. Of course."

"And you…" Wyatt turned to the face-down Sigmund. "Tell your master I do not appreciate these little games of his. Tell him that if he continues with his current course of action, and fails – and he _will_ fail, don't doubt me on that – then the future will be even _worse_ than he can even imagine."

"Of-of-of course!" Sigmund said, scrambling to his feet and flat out running away from Wyatt, his face stained red.

Phoebe couldn't take her eyes from Wyatt, fear clenching her insides and churning in her stomach.

"Yenene, I'm disappointed in your action, but-" Wyatt gestured slightly. "I am more disappointed in one aspect of it more than anything else."

"Wh-what's that?" Yenene gasped.

Wyatt smirked coolly, and he looked directly at Phoebe. His gaze locked with Phoebe's frightened own gaze. She took an intake of breath, and stumbled back, for somehow Wyatt had stepped forwards, and was holding her wrist and she couldn't get away, she was _trapped_-

"Yes, Yenene," Wyatt said smoothly, "I'm most disappointed that you would conduct business in open view of a Charmed One." His face hardened even further. "I'm most disappointed indeed."

* * *

**T-20**

**

* * *

**


	34. Chapter the Thirtyfourth

"_No wonder Chris grows up to be such a neurotic little freak."

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_

**Neurotic

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**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

* * *

**Chapter the Thirty-fourth**

"**Pain"

* * *

**

Life really had great timing.

No, really.

Life always knows exactly when and where to smack you when you're down.

Piper Halliwell was miserable. Utterly miserable.

The pounding rain did nothing to relieve the constant ache in her back, the beleaguering ache and cramp in her stomach seemed to increase with each second, she'd somehow caught a cold even though _Chris_ was the one who had come back soaking wet, her sisters were still missing, her sons were psychotic or neurotic or acting really strange, and then this one thing happened to top it all off.

"You know, you organised this place a lot better when you opened it."

Piper opened her mouth to argue, and sloppily shut it. A thousand arguments flittered through her head, and she ached to voice them, but was unable to deal with the shit she would get back from this pig ignorant woman standing in front of her, tapping a clipboard impatiently.

She tried to smile her best fake smile at the woman from the insurance company, but it was probably too tight to be considered genuine, so she kept silent and nodded noncommittally.

"But be that as it may, it can't be denied that profits are up, and the bands you have booked are increasingly higher in profile… I have to admit your books aren't quite so formidably correct as they used to be, but nonetheless, the results are remarkably impressive."

_Remarkably impressive._ Piper's mouth worked silently, as she resisted the urge to blast the hell out of the woman. _Remarkably? You try trying to stop your magically psychotic firstborn from being turned evil and levelling the world into hell's playground. And then try doing it alone, and pregnant, and with a cold!_ She sneezed violently, getting vindictive pleasure from getting spittle on the business lady.

The insurance woman wrinkled her nose a little, and Piper managed to smile cheerily at her.

"I'm taking each day as it comes," Piper said, tilting her chin. "No one can have a good day every day, but I have the bigger picture in mind. Small fluctuations won't prevent me from doing a good job. All I require is a little faith."

The woman sniffed. "Indeed. I'll be contacting you later in the week."

Without as much as saying a polite goodbye, the sternly dressed woman turned on her heel and clattered away up the stairs, leaving Piper alone in the dark. She couldn't seem to control her breathing, and her nose was blocked, and she sank gratefully against the counter.

She'd had no idea that her life would degenerate to this. Everyone had promised they'd be there for her, and now… there was no one.

She was aware that she was feeling pathetically sorry for herself, but as she blew into her very last tissue and left it wrinkled on the counter top, she didn't care. She turned to get to the phone and dial a taxi to take her home, when she saw Chris watching her from the shadows.

"How long have you been there?" She asked, surprised. Her eyes watered, and she wiped them with the back of her hand, her nose aching. Actually, it came out more _how dong haf you been der? _but Chris understood.

"Just a little while," Chris said softly. He stepped forwards and gingerly offered her a box of balsam tissues.

"My hero," Piper sniffed, pulling out a tissue and burying her face in it. "It's just- That was the _worst_ financial meeting ever."

"I have faith in you." Chris looked almost startled at his own words, and Piper sniffled up at him, a rush of warmth sliding over her, his trust giving her strength. He put one hand gently on her shoulder and smiled down at her, and it was suddenly too much for Piper. She collapsed forwards against him, sobbing into his shoulder and wishing she could blame it on the cold.

"I don't deserve it," she said, muffled into his sweater.

"You deserve it more than anyone I know."

"I don't deserve _you_."

Chris' breathing hitched, and she pulled back to see him looking confusedly at her. She hated the fact that a simple compliment – a simple _truth_ – winded him this much. _Did I not tell him how much I appreciated him during his childhood?_ His eyes widened as if he realised what she was thinking. "I'm sorry I was so surprised," he said, his words a little rushed. "It's been a long time since-"

"-anyone complimented you?" Piper questioned, and then sneezed violently all over Chris.

Chris just blinked, and absently said, "Bless you."

"You _are_ a regular Mr. Manners," Piper said, sniffling a little. He pushed another tissue into her hands and she took it gratefully.

She looked up to see him eyeballing her cautiously, as if he was analysing her. She didn't like the sudden scrutiny. A thousand expressions fragmented over his face, each a part of a different memory, and then his face steeled, as if he'd decided on something.

"Come with me," Chris said softly, pulling at her hands. Surprised, she let him lead her over to one of the comfortable sofas in one of the alcoves. She sat down, facing him, eyes wide as she wondered what he was going to do.

"Just sit still," he instructed, "and whatever you do, don't pull away from my hand."

She looked at him; confusion plastered on her face as he looked down, swallowed, and then looked up at her. He put his hand on her cheek, spreading his fingers, and she watched, startled, as his eyes fluttered shut, and she was just about to ask him what he was doing when she was suddenly very, very dizzy.

She felt like crying out, but she couldn't, and blackness swept over her vision before crackling into life again, and when she opened her eyes she was… somewhere else… and she playing… playing a piano?

All she could see were the keys, and hands moving over them, but they weren't her hands. They were paler than hers, and the nails were unkempt as if they'd been bitten and chewed off. The skin was quite raggedy around the nails, too, but the hands were… The hands were really quite beautiful. They were angular, and were gracefully skittering over the keys, and she felt almost as if they were her own.

It was then that she heard the music, and it was like someone breathing, raising and falling in a glorious melody before dropping down into a warm little rush of chromatic scales, and swelling into the most anguished melody she'd ever heard. She wanted to cry, die in it, swell in it and gloriously exalt within it… She could feel the pain of the player with such clarity that her heart broke and the melody mended it, a little.

"_Chris?"_

Piper started at the sound of his name, and her vision twisted, and she suddenly realised she was in the sitting room. The voice sounded like _hers…_ That's when she realised what Chris had done. He was giving her one of his memories. She was where Chris would have been when this event occurred.

The doorway was empty.

"_Chris, can you turn that radio down?"_

Piper stared as an older version of herself walked into the frame of the doorway, not as old as Pippa but definitely older than she was now. This older version of herself stopped short in amazement.

"_You're not… That's _you_ playing!"_

The music stopped. _"Y-yeah."_

Piper was struck by the deep hesitancy in Chris' voice. It squeaked a little. Piper placed this Chris somewhere in the region of puberty. She wished he would walk by a mirror so she could catch a glimpse of him while he was growing up.

"_That's amazing…"_ Older Piper looked amazed, stricken, and awed all at the same time. "_I never knew…"_

"_I haven't played in front of you before, why would you know?"_

"_Oh, honey..." _Piper felt a bit weird as it appeared that the older Piper was walking towards her. The sensation of herself giving herself a hug was more than a little weird. "_Why would you hide something like _this_?"_

"_I haven't hidden it." _Chris' voice was downcast, and his gaze moved too, for Piper got a sudden glimpse of the thighs she would have in the future, and was a little impressed that she _hadn't_ instantly got elephant thighs when she was older like Prue had always joked she would.

"_You just haven't shown us, either."_ Older Piper sounded amused. "_When did you get so good at this half-truth business?"_

"_Wyatt. Wyatt's real good at it._"

Older Piper looked a little regretful. "_You're still going on with this Wyatt business, aren't you. Your older brother is _good_, when will you get this?"_

"_I'm not crazy. I've seen too many things to explain it away"_

"_Sometimes our eyes can play tricks on us, Chris. Just give your brother some faith."_

"_I-" _Chris' voice sounded absolutely broken. _"I _can't._ I don't want to disappoint you, mom, but I can't…"_

"_Then give _me_ some faith. I trust your brother."_

"_Give you some- Mom, I've always had faith in you. No matter what. I always will. I love you. It's sort of unconditional that way."_

Older Piper smiled breathtakingly, but it was tinged with an open sadness. _"I know you do, honey. Play for me a bit more, will you?"_

Chris' reply was a little resentful_. "I thought you wanted me to keep the music down."_

"_That's because I didn't realise it was you." _Older Piper smiled at him. She reached over and fluffed his hair. _"I'll just be in the kitchen."_

"_Okay."_

Older Piper got up, smiled at him, and walked away. Piper's gaze returned to the keyboard, and younger Chris hesitantly played a few phrases and then faltered. Then he quickly got to his feet and moved over to a CD player on the bookcase. The hand reached forward again, and hit play. It was a recording as the same melancholic piece.

Younger Chris moved swiftly around the corner to stand by the kitchen door, out of sight. Older Piper was on the phone. Piper could hear her words clearly.

"_Dr. Macmillan? Yes, Chris is still saying he's seeing things. And he's been hiding things from us too, just like you said he would. I'd like to do what you said. Do you have a residence space at the ward? You do? Fantastic"_

And then, suddenly, Chris' face was in front of hers again.

She blinked, and realised the vision he'd given her had ended. Chris was looking at her as if she might break.

"That was my last full day at home," Chris said quietly, his words a little deeper than normal. "I was booked into the hospital, and they put me into an asylum, and the very first day I was out, Wyatt apparently got his first 'premonition'. You didn't want me to come out with you as you were scared I was too fragile, but we went anyway. It was to somewhere in Japan, underground, and that day was when he killed Paul and took you out of my life."

He spoke matter-of-factly.

Piper breathed hard. "Why-"

"Because I've always trusted you. Always. You needed to see that. I didn't think I was going crazy, but I was willing to believe it for you." He was smiling though, which confused Piper.

"Why aren't you mad at me?" Piper breathed, feeling even more miserable. Her anger at the stuck-up woman who had all but called her incompetent had vanished under the anguishing pain she felt now. _How could he be so calm when I was so horrible to him?_ "I-"

"You did what you thought you had to to protect me," Chris said. "Don't worry, it took me a long time to accept that." He smiled briefly. "I just needed you to know how much faith I _do_ have in you. I always have." He looked a little reluctant for a moment, and chewed his lower lip. "Perhaps it wasn't the best example…"

"No, no," Piper said quickly. "It was perfect." She pursed her lips a little. "Would you play me something when we get home?" Her lips quirked. "I promise not to have you committed if you do."

"I would be honoured," Chris informed her, his green eyes sparkling with a restrained mirth.

"Hey."

Piper blinked, startled out of the moment by the third voice intruding on them. Irrationally she felt frustrated, and felt even worse when it was Paul that had interrupted them. He held a small vial in his hand.

"You _got_ a jar of the balm?" Chris was instantly brisk and businesslike, and he got to his feet, taking the vial from Paul and looking at it. "Excellent."

"No, it's not." Paul's voice wavered.

"It's _not_ the balm?" Confusion sprayed on his face, Chris looked down at him. "Wha-"

"No, no, it's not that. Yenene just gave it to me," Paul said, impatiently. "I was all pissed that I was taking time from saving Paige, all ready to snap, and she just mutely handed it over without payment."

"So maybe it's not the balm," Piper calmly suggested, getting to her feet. Chris instantly moved to her side, and she threw a "_I'm not incapable_" look at him, which he promptly ignored and took her arm in his.

"Oh, it's the balm," Paul said, worried. "Apparently Wyatt told her to let us have it."

"Well, it makes sense," Chris said, a little perturbed. "Wyatt would want his younger self protected."

"No, no, that's not it." Paul waved his hand impatiently. "It's something else that happened. The black market was all abuzz. Apparently Wyatt caught a Charmed One snooping around."

Chris opened his mouth to reply, and then snapped it shut, disturbed. "But Piper didn't-"

Paul looked at Chris as if he were incredibly stupid. "It was Phoebe," Paul said, unsteadily. "You know well enough what I mean by that."

The two exchanged a horrified silence.

"What?" Piper looked between them, her heart pounding, her cold almost forgotten in this new development. "What does that mean?"

"It means Phoebe was on this plane all along," Chris said miserably. "Do you remember anything from high school physics?"

"Not much," Piper admitted, confused. "What's physics got to do with-"

"With magic? A lot, actually." Chris looked amused. Piper had seen the expression before on him, and it was one that she'd seen him use when he was amused he knew more than her. "Uh, anyway, every solid is made mostly up of space-"

"-between the particles, yes, I knew that," Piper said, her eyes flittering over his drawn and suddenly tired face. "You mean Phoebe's… somehow… in that space?"

"Yes," Chris said. His words were slow and measured, and the meaning of his words weighed heavily on the air. "In a very rough way, that's exactly what I mean."

* * *

**T-19

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**


	35. Chapter the Thirtyfifth

"_I mean, he's been avoiding me for weeks, he won't even look at me. What could I have done in the future that would be so bad?"

* * *

_

**Neurotic

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

* * *

**Chapter the Thirty-fifth**

"Completed Circle**"**

**

* * *

**

"You explain." Paul agitatedly shot Chris a look of frustration over his shoulder. "I'm going to help Cole. I already wasted enough time getting that damn vial."

Chris blinked as Paul quickly ran over to Cole, a little perplexed.

"Huh," Piper said. She looked up at Chris, who was sporting a peculiar expression. "He's been through a lot too," she said gently, tugging at his arm.

Chris looked down, open mouthed, a little surprised at the gesture. "That's not- I was just-" Inexplicably he fell silent, and watched Paul as he sat down next to Cole. Some sort of conversation passed between them as Paul sat down, and Paul's cheeks were paler than usual.

"I hope your explanation of where Phoebe is is a lot clearer," Piper said dryly.

The sound of Phoebe's name seemed to snap Chris out of the reverie he'd seemingly sunk into, and he nodded sharply at her words. "I'll get the book, you sit down," he commanded curtly, dashing up the stairs.

"What do you need the book for?" Piper bellowed after him.

There was no response, even though Piper was sure he must have heard her. She turned quizzically to Cole and Paul, engrossed as they were in scribbling frantically in the book. She chewed on her lower lip thoughtfully.

"It's really dark," she said worriedly, fully aware that she was going into "mother hen mode" as Prue (_oh, Prue_) would have jokingly reminded her. "I'm sure Paige can look after herself, why don't you two get at least an hour's rest, and-"

"No! We can't!" Paul turned to look at her angrily. "We need Paige out to_day_, otherwise…"

Piper was surprised at his surge of anger. Cole looked slightly stricken and apologetic.

"Food would be good," Cole suggested. "Paul, why don't you take over here, and I'll try and rustle something up?"

His words netted him a full-on growl from Piper that would put many wendigoes to shame. "I'm the chef in this house," she said tightly, through gritted teeth.

"You're also two weeks overdue," Cole snapped back.

"But I can work a phone just _fine_," Piper retorted, just as quickly. She lowered an uncertain look to Paul. "Besides, I sort of recall someone in the household who really likes noodles."

Paul twisted his head at that, a faint hopeful look in the depths of his eyes, but he could only muster up a very small smile. Piper was struck quietly by the emotions she felt from seeing that smile, and it disturbed her even though she didn't understand why until it hit her.

She'd seen that smile before.

On Chris.

Perturbed, she just flashed him a watery smile and waddled into the conservatory; collapsing on one of the wider wiry chairs heaped up with cushions and grabbing the cordless from the table. She hit the speed-dial, feeling a rush of gratefulness towards Phoebe's late night Chinese cravings, and waited for Number One Noodle Son to pick up.

"_Hello, this is Number One Noodle Son. How can I help you?"_

"Uh, this is Piper Halliwell, 1329 Prescott Street… Yeah. I'd like to order-" She faltered, pulling a face. "Excuse me a second." She heard a faint affirmative, and she covered up the receiver. "Guys, what would you like to-"

"Anything," Cole said, trying to be helpful.

"Want me to do it?" Chris appeared at the doorway, the large volume of spells under his arm. Piper nodded gratefully. Chris dropped the Book of Shadows onto the small rickety table and took the receiver from her.

"Uh, hi. We'd like one number 12, four of number 89, three of 11, two of 2, one 86, one 46, two- no, three 54, uh-" Chris frowned for a second, looked back into the dining room speculatively. "-five 76, one 35, one 45a with a 13 and a 63, and two large bottles of coke." Chris covered up the receiver. "Paul's got a caffeine addiction," he muttered as an aside before making an affirmative sound into the receiver and pressing disconnect. "They'll be here in an hour."

"You've very good at that," Piper opined, her eyes twinkling. Chris bobbed a curtsey.

"Thank you, kind lady." Feeling suddenly awkward, Chris pulled a slightly worried face and pulled up a chair opposite Piper's. Sitting down, he began to absently rifle through the pages.

"You said you'd explain that science-y thing," Piper said as gently as she could manage.

"I did," Chris said lightly, his sea-green eyes analytically scanning the pages as he looked for some specific spell. "Do you remember much about quantum physics."

"I remember '_Quantum Leap'_," Piper said, as helpfully as she could manage.

Chris made a sound of frustration, but by the sudden grin that quirked onto his face, Piper knew he was amused, even as the smile disappeared just as quickly. "How about particle-wave duality?"

"Is that English?" Piper asked plaintively.

Chris laughed, and paused from looking through the books. "According to quantum physics, all matter exists in both particles, and waves." He gestured vaguely with one hand. "Just think of particles as little dots, and waves as… waves," he explained, wincing at his own lack of vocabulary. "Let's just pretend, for the sake of argument, that Phoebe was magically put out of phase with our particles by 180 degrees, right down to the sub-atomic level."

Piper tried to think it over, and frowned. "I've had a _really_ long day. Spell it out to me."

"If she was exactly that much out of phase with us, she could be on this plane. We wouldn't be able to see or hear her. Light and sound acts like waves _and _particles, you see, and-"

"-so Phoebe's just a little… out of shift with reality?" Piper shook her head, a little dazed. "So why can't we touch her? Why didn't she touch us?"

Chris shrugged. "It's not an exact scientific theory. That's why they call it a _theory_."

Piper was sure there was some dig at her there, but couldn't quite work it out.

"There's been a lot of debate in the scientific world whether someone 180 degrees shifted could touch something," Chris elucidated.

"So we've proved some big scientific theory? If Phoebe can't touch anything-"

"But Phoebe's been put that way magically," Chris said despondently. "We don't know what other magical measures have been put on her. Besides, when you try to directly affect something scientific with magic, you get anomalous results. Why do you think in science lab in high school you sometimes get a really dumb result? It's because in pretty much every class, you have one magical person, who affects the experiment."

"…I think you got your brains from your father," Piper said, a little winded.

"You know right where to hurt me the most, don't you?"

Piper's head flew up at those words, disbelief raging through her, until she realised he was chuckling at her. "Hmm."

"And I think I got my brains from you, thank you very much," Chris said, pseudo-primly.

"Hang on a second…" Piper massaged her temples slightly. "How on earth did Wyatt see her, then, if she's out of shift with the rest of the world?"

"Because it's an Elder power," Chris said absently, resuming his search through the Book. "Wyatt killed the last Elder and took his powers." Chris bolted up from the Book as if it had electrocuted him. Alert and startled, Chris looked at Piper. "It's an _Elder_ power," Chris repeated.

"What have you just _Eureka_'d yourself into this time?"

"Wyatt wouldn't waste the energy hiding one sister, and then using another method to hide another one," Chris said, a little unsteadily. "Just getting one out of the way would exercise his objective to put us off balance. That means someone else interfered. I would bet a _lot_ to suggest that Wyatt was behind Crossed, Double-Crossed. I mean, why would you expend that much energy to put Phoebe out of shift with us, only to have to go to the trouble to get her back afterwards? So if Wyatt was behind Paige's disappearance into the Book, then…"

"…an _Elder_ was behind Phoebe's disappearance?" Piper's eyes were wide. "Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes," Chris said unsteadily. "That's precisely what I'm saying."

* * *

"Cole. _Cole_." 

Cole had been busy trying to eavesdrop on what Chris and Piper was saying. It sounded very serious, and it involved Phoebe, and something about her being trapped…

There was an insistent tugging on his arm. "_Cole_. I've only got twelve hours left." Paul sounded horrendously desperate. "Come _on_. Mom and dad have been going around in _circles_ for _hours_…"

"Mom and-" Cole's brow furrowed. "Dan is your-"

"-sssshhhh," Paul hissed. "I reckon Wyatt's busy with Phoebe, but I can't run the risk he doesn't have a spy or anything."

"Look," Cole snapped, "you go in there and entertain Chris and Piper, okay?"

Paul growled at him, and lifted up his sweater slightly. His midriff was completely gone. "I _can't_."

"Well sit there and shut up," Cole said unsympathetically. "I'm going to try and redirect them, stop them from this path so they _don't_ keep going around in circles and at least try and get this plot moving on."

Paul snapped his mouth shut mulishly, mumbling something under his breath.

"I told you before," Cole said primly, "my parents were _married_ when they had me."

* * *

"This is ridiculous." Paige kicked a stone off the sidewalk, feeling mutinous. "We've been walking for hours in _circles. _I don't even see _why_ we're going after Eddie." 

"Didn't you hear him apologise when he turned us in?" Dan questioned her, lengthening his stride to keep up with her sudden forceful pace. "Criminals _don't _say they're sorry."

"Yeah," Paige said bitterly, "and innocents don't try and get you killed."

She started to storm off so fast that Dan had to grab her arm and stop her. "We've been down there," he said, quietly. Paige sighed, pursed her lips and went down a different alleyway instead.

"Paige." Dan stopped impatiently, and folded his arms across his chest. "Paige! Hey! Wait up!" He ran to catch up with her, and she slowed enough to let him. Even though she was mad, she wasn't stupid enough to be on her own in this crazy world. "Paige, I know that kid. I _was_ that kid."

Paige did stop then, turning wide brown eyes on him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"When _my_ parents died, I went a little out there for a while. Got in with the wrong crowd. I blamed myself," Dan said quietly.

"I didn't know," Paige said in a small voice. _He's so much like me. _"How did they-"

"Drowned in a boating accident." Shadows fell on his face, clouding his expression. It was because of the lack of light in the small alley, but it suited his mood.

"I'm sorry," Paige said, and Dan believed her. "I blamed myself, too. But I didn't try to hurt anyone else but myself." Self-righteousness blazed on her face.

"I did."

Dan's quiet admission unnerved Paige. She stared up at him, her eyes scanning his face. He suddenly seemed older, more tired, as if a thousand lifetimes of pain were crowding in on his face. She knew that expression. She'd seen it on her own face a thousand times when she'd tried to come to terms with her parents' deaths.

"I didn't believe I was worthy of being helped, so I did anything and everything I could to push people away – cops, teachers, social workers, you name it." Dan sighed, and looked down. "Maybe Eddie feels the same way."

"Maybe." Paige's admission caused him to look up again. "But maybe he crossed the line."

"I'm starting to think that might not be the case," Dan countered. "You haven't seen a _lot_ of Film Noir, have you?"

Paige shook her head, bewildered. "What has that got-"

"This _is _a Noir novel," Dan said evenly. "I think Johnny the Gent got him to set us

up. He's playing Eddie, but what Eddie doesn't know is that Johnny is the one that killed his brother."

"I thought- the cops-"

"The cops didn't kill him. It's classic noir. That's just a red herring. If the cops

did it, they would have beaten Eddie until he told them where the Falcon was,

but they're _still looking _for it."

Paige blinked. "So the gangsters killed Dan?"

"Apart from that being very eerie to hear: yes, that's what I believe. Besides…" His face was grim. "Who else would it be?"

"Then maybe we need to end the story by collaring the gangsters," Paige said determinedly. "All right, let's go. They're back this way."

"Hold on, what about Eddie?" Dan asked.

"Eddie can just-" But she couldn't finish her sentence as suddenly the heavens opened and rain roared down on them. "What in the _world_- there was absolutely no _sign_ of this before!"

The rain reached a roaring crescendo to their ears and fell like broken sheet glass around them. Paige instantly huddled back against the wall, but it didn't offer much protection. Dan whipped off his jacket and tried to hold it over them, but it didn't offer much protection either.

"We need somewhere to hide out until this stops!" Dan yelled over the sudden downpour. He'd had to get really close so she could hear, and his breath ghosted over her cheek.

"I think I saw a motel 'round the corner!" Paige managed to get back. Dan nodded and together they skittered out into the heavy rain, soaked through. Paige's dress clung heavily to the back of her legs. They slammed through the doors of the motel, breathing heavily.

The clerk at the desk looked at them, obviously amused. "Got caught in the rain, did you?"

"Naw," Paige said good-naturedly. "We went swimming with some ducks."

The clerk guffawed. "You two be wanting a room?"

"If you have any available," Paige said politely, resisting the urge to wring out her hair on the carpet and instead letting it fall uncomfortably down her back. Her legs stung where her sodden dress hit her.

"One," the clerk said, amused, "but that wouldn't be a problem for such a sweet couple, now would it?"

Dan was about to open his mouth to protest, but Paige elbowed him and smiled up at him sweetly.

"Not at all," Paige informed him. "Paige and Dan Gordon." She sashayed with a smile over to the counter, and filled out the small card the clerk handed her.

"That'll be twenty dollars, twenty five if you'll be wanting breakfast," the clerk said, dangling the key in one hand. Paige delved into her pocket and brought out a sodden wallet, counting out twenty-five and handing it over. He passed her the keys with a considerably lecherous smile. "You two have fun."

"Thank you, kind sir," Paige said, bobbing a soaking wet curtsey at the clerk. She edged a look at Dan, who still looked like he'd been blindsided by an ogre with halitosis. "Come on, then."

In a bemused silence, Dan followed her up the carpeted stairs to the second floor. Paige fumbled with the door and managed to get it open, and they quickly entered the room with relief. Paige slammed the door shut and locked it with a pleased sigh. "Thank _god_," she enthused, looking around the dingy room with its King sized bed in the middle.

She sighted some bathrobes on one chair and gratefully moved forwards to grab one. Without thinking, she pulled off the dress right there, throwing it against the radiator and grinning at the satisfying _thunk!_ it made against the radiator before sliding the robe on. She turned as she tied it to see Dan gaping at her.

Paige wasn't normally prone to blushing, but she reddened instantly. "Sorry," she murmured, acutely embarrassed. "You see, normally when I spend so much time around a guy we're- you know-" She fidgeted. "It's not that I'm ashamed," she said, defiantly.

"Uh, you've got nothing to be, uh, ashamed of-" Dan managed, before shutting down completely, a similar tinge playing on his face. Paige was suddenly aware of his eyes, still darkened by the pain of his confession. No one had ever looked at her like that before, with so much emotion…

"You need to change too," Paige said, moving over and picking up the spare robe. "And I think- turnabout is fair play."

A smirk played on her face as she moved over to him. Dan was too stunned to really reply. He felt her hand move up to take his hat off, and it tumbled to the ground. Water was dripping from his hair onto his neck, but he barely felt it. Paige pushed his jacket from his shoulders, and he helped her with it, dropping it to one side. A demure expression was on her face, but her eyes spoke a different story. Desire hung in the air like a heavy curtain, blanketing between them tangibly. She reached for his shirt buttons and his hand moved of its own accord to snag hers.

Her hand seemed small in his, vulnerable, and that almost made him snap out of this sudden lust-charged development, but her wrist twisted in his grasp, almost made him lose his balance, and it reminded him of her strength, the quiet strength she had shown so much of during the last few days. Unthinkingly his other hand travelled to her cheek, and it was so soft, and Paige let out the softest moan. He lowered his face to hers, only to be met half-way, and they kissed.

They broke apart after a startled second, surprise ghosting as a whisper of breath between them, but Dan could taste her on his lips, and it was like a drug. He wanted, no, he _needed_ more. He pulled her to him, and the second kiss took on a sense of urgency. They kissed, and like the rain they fell together; fell, fell, fell into forever and eternity, into something that could never be changed, into something they never wanted to change, into something that would change their whole lives…, and together they rose with their kisses, into the sky, into the future, into a thousand arching sunbursts that stained the sky a thousand colours of a thousand rainbows that had fallen to their deaths and now were being reborn in a glorious firework display that lit them up from the inside out, and when they were done they giddily slept, not knowing the consequences of their actions, not knowing that inside Paige's womb a secret curled, warm and safe and alive.

* * *

**T-18**

**

* * *

**

**Note:** Please don't mimic Paige. Sex with a first-time partner when you are unsure of their past sexual history should _always, always, always_ be done with protection. Please be responsible. You could end up with worse than being stuck with Paul for a child.


	36. Chapter the Thirtysixth

"_Yes, well, that was before Chris informed us that our child is going to grow up to be the future of all evil."

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_

**Neurotic **

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**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me. 

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

* * *

**Chapter the Thirty-sixth**

"**Inspiration"

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**

Cole Turner was currently more than a little gob-smacked. 

All he'd manage to write was "and then suddenly, as if from nowhere, rain started falling so hard and fast that anyone on the street would need to take shelter" and _bam_. This happened.

He was sure he was suddenly blushing hard, but he couldn't do a thing about it. This was- they wereHe could even think in complete sentences.

One thing was for sure – he wasn't ever going to be able to look at Paige in the same way again.

_Is that even physically possible?_

Cole heard a high-pitched sound from somewhere, and realised it was coming from somewhere within his own throat. He slammed the book closed, blushing furiously.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Paul threw himself across the wooden table, hand lancing out to grab at the book. Cole turned wordlessly to the sallow Whitelighter, and opened his mouth but no coherent words came out.

"Cole, you _can't_ stop now, you just-" Paul struggled, and Cole grabbed the book tighter between his hands.

"Trust me, you don't want to read this," Cole said crisply, standing back from him and holding tightly onto the book. "You guhhgarrgggghhhh!"

"What's going on?"

Paul looked up from where he currently had his hands around Cole's neck and was shaking him madly. He looked sheepishly at Chris, and slowly moved his hands down.

Chris glared at them both from the doorway, one hand on his hip, his eyes boring into both of them at the same time. "I asked what's going on," Chris said coolly.

Paul, unfortunately, took advantage of Cole being stunned to launch himself again at Cole. Triumphantly he grabbed the book, swung the front cover open, and started to flip through the pages.

Which was when Chris decided he really ought to take advantage of the whole "being the older brother" thing which he'd really neglected a lot when he was younger. Also, he decided that ignoring the "no magic around your siblings" rule was perfectly fine, seeing as Piper hadn't _technically_ had that lecture with them in this timeline. Yet.

Paul yelped as Chris used his telekinesis to yank the book out of Paul's hands.

"Chris!"

"Uh-uh-uh, you stay right there," Chris warned, holding his other hand up.

"Or else _what?_"

"I'll use my powers on you."

"Magic doesn't work against _good_ witches," Paul said, pompously and primly.

"Except my powers _do_ work against Whitelighters," Chris said, just as primly. "Besides – as Piper warned me earlier this week – my powers will also work just as well on your _pants_."

Paul folded his arms, gritted his mouth and glared up at Chris contemptuously. "You're only doing this because the only thing you could do to get the title of _worst brother_ is to blow up the planet."

"Don't give me any ideas." Chris' face was composed, but merriment lit his eyes.

"You might not want to read that," Cole managed, his cheeks still red. Chris looked from Cole to the book, pursed his lips and flipped the book open. Cole rolled his eyes as Chris flipped to the latest page. Text was spilling down the page even as he read it.

Chris slammed the book shut immediately, a wild look crossing his face. "Dude, that's _nasty_." He pulled a face and handed the book over to Cole. "Paul, you go into help mom." Paul started to pull a mutinous face. "_Now_. Unless you really _want_ to read about Uncle Dan doing rather nasty things to Aunt Paige, I suggest you _scram_."

Paul's eyes widened. "They- nasty- _WHAT?"_

Chris watched confusedly as Paul looked down his own sweater at himself. _What-?_ He shook it away, deciding to analyse the strange behaviour later, when he had a little more time to bring together all those little weird things that had been going on between Paul and Pippa before Pippa- Chris' heart constricted painfully, and he remembered the awful words he'd shouted at her. _You haven't been my mother for the last twenty-one years, why are you starting now?_

And now he _knew_ he was trying to make up for it with Piper, by trying not to be awkward around her, but it _hurt_, dammit. But he didn't have time for his own personal feelings. Not until this was over. _And maybe not even then._

"Uh, what did you write to get _that_ to happen?" Chris asked, covering up his uneasiness with the question.

"Nothing!" Cole protested, twisting his hands awkwardly. The blush had faded from his cheeks, and now he just looked miserable. "I just made it rain because Paige was about to insist going after the gangsters, which would have got her _killed_."

Chris' lip twitched. "What were your exact words?"

"...and then suddenly, as if from nowhere, rain started falling so hard and fast that anyone on the street would need to take shelter," Cole said.

Chris smirked incomprehensibly. "From what I remember when this happened in our timeline," Chris gestured slightly to Paul, "Paige was trapped in with a detective named Brody something or other. But- it was found in the magic school's library. It had been written by two teenage brothers."

"And so" Cole shrugged, not getting the implication.

"Teenagers. Like my wholesome little brother here, they had rampant hormones. So if you had words like, I don't know, _hard and fast_ into a book magically created by two teenaged boys? What do you think might happen?"

Cole scrunched his eyes up a little. "Look, I'm not being paid to write this," he said hotly.

"Relax," Paul said quickly, hoping to placate the seething adult. "Everything's turned out okay, right?" Relief was clear on his young face.

"Depends on your definition of _okay_," Cole grouched, but he looked a little appeased by Paul's words.

"Hang on a second, _teenager like your wholesome little brother – _Chris, I'm not much younger than you, and you know it!"

Chris gave him an appraising once-over, his eyebrows raised and his lips pressed together. "Well, you could pass for seventeen, if you were _extremely_ lucky," he said eventually with a sniff.

Paul's mouth worked silently, until he managed to explode with a, "Seven_teen?_ I'm twenty-one and you know it!"

"Uh-uh." Chris' voice held a distinct teasing note to it. "You _technically_ died when you were thirteen."

"I'm _not thirteen_," Paul ground out, sounding frustrated and annoyed. "I only _look_ thirteen-"

"-well, you look older than thirteen. Older than _I _remember, anyway. But then I was crazy, what do you expect?"

Paul narrowed a look at Chris. "We know now you weren't crazy, don't pull that one at me."

Chris just stuck his tongue out.

"Oh yeah, very mature," Paul added.

"I thought so," Chris quipped lightly.

"Besides, even though Whitelighters don't age it doesn't mean our appearance doesn't change." Paul looked thoughtful. "Imagine if I _did _look thirteen now."

"You look thirteen to me," Cole said. Paul glared and Chris burst out laughing. "What do I know?" Cole offered. "I'm over a century old."

"Yeah, and you look every second of it," Paul said snappishy. Chris looked at Cole resignedly.

"Don't worry, he's just PMSing," Chris advised Cole quietly.

Paul sniffed. "I'm not going to deign to answer that," he said, prissily. "That would just be an immature thing to do."

"Isn't you saying that a reply?" Chris questioned, unable to stop grinning at Paul.

"Ha, ha." Paul looked thoughtful. "I did try and Glamour myself older once." He wrinkled his nose. "It didn't look very good."

"Go on," Chris said suddenly. "Show us. After what I just read about Paige doing, I could _do_ with a good laugh."

"Chri-i-i-i-i-is," Paul whined drawing out the syllable as if he'd done it a lot.

"Paaaaaaaauuuull," Chris returned in the same sing-song annoyed tone.

Paul sighed, rolled his eyes and shifted on his feet awkwardly. "_Fine_. Okay, here goes." He waved his hand over his face. Orb lights sparkled, and then an older version of Paul appeared before them. He looked a lot taller, nearly Chris' height, and his hair was shoulder-length again. His hair was a lot darker too, and it fell in foreboding lines, and his nose protuded perhaps a little bit too much, so much so that the overall effect was...

Chris burst out laughing.

"See, I told you," Paul said sulkily, as he waved his hand back over his face.

"You.. looked... like... Professor Snape!" Chris sniggered into his hand for a second, and there were tears of laughter in his eyes which he wiped away. He shook his head, muttering, "classic!"

"You're never going to stop reminding me of this, are you?" Paul asked rhetorically.

"Nope." Chris grinned.

"Me neither," Cole informed Paul dryly. Cole flickered the book open a little, and peeked in, shutting it again with a grimace.

"Hello? Lonely, hormonal, very pregnant lady in here wondering why everyone's laugh-ing..." Piper's voice drifted plaintively into the dining room, and Chris smiled.

"I'll go," Paul said, with a look of acceptance and relief on his face that Chris couldn't fully decipher.

_Acceptance? But what did he just accept? That he's never going to grow up?_

Chris watched his younger brother walk off. A sudden melancholic mood had descended upon him, and he couldn't shake it off. He couldn't brush away the sudden feeling that had coldly clamped around his heart, the knowledge that Paul wouldn't- wouldn't ever get to have a proper life. Chris at least had a _chance_- a small at one at that, but a _chance_ – of a vaguely normal life after this whole business was over. He could grow up, potentially have children, fall in love again (although that idea hurt)...

But then, there was nothing to stop Paul falling in love _or_ marrying. Piper and Leo had done it. When had something like rules ever gotten truly in the way of a Halliwell?

_Death. Death has gotten in our way._

_You don't have _time_ for that!_

Chris felt a soft hand on his shoulder which snapped him out of the furious internal debate that had started to rage. Cole was looking at him with a look of complete understanding.

"Maybe we should concentrate on more immediate matters than the distant future," Cole said. "Especially seeing as if we _don't_ fix some of the more current problems there won't _be_ any future."

Chris looked at him angrily. "I _know_ that," he snapped, suddenly angry. Cole just nodded.

"So why don't you explain to _me_ what's up with Phoebe, and-"

Chris realised with a burgeoning sadness that Cole had helped with the book even while being desperately worried about Phoebe, and his heart stretched out to Cole. Chris had completely lost Bianca, with no way of getting her back, and Cole's loss was even worse. Chris couldn't imagine a future without him loving Bianca, and knew Cole would always love Phoebe. _But wouldn't the future be harder if I was still so desperately in love with Bianca, but couldn't have her? If I was close enough to touch her, and yet she didn't want me? Would that be better or _worse _than her being dead?_

Yet the answer came to him easily. _Better for the world to have Bianca's presence, than for her light to have completely disappeared from this planet... _Even if it were painful, he would rather Bianca alive and well and not be allowed to be with her, than have Bianca dead and all the love in the world...

"Phoebe's on this plane," Chris said. "She's just out of phase."

Cole nodded. "So that's why I could see her? The Avatars shifted me one hunded and eighty degrees to withdraw their power, and then- put me back." Cole's brow was drawn.

Chris smiled, happy that Cole understood the concept. He was about to explain how he was looking for a spell when the doorbell went. "That's probably dinner," Chris muttered before yelling, "I'll get it!"

"Aw, _man_!" floated the instant argument from Paul. Chris grinned to himself and jogged to the door. Expecting to see a delivery man sweating under the load of the number of dishes Chris had ordered, Chris was a little taken aback to see Darryl Morris standing on the doorway.

"Hi, Chris." Darryl's words were slow and awkward. "Can I come in?"

Startled, Chris nodded, surreptitiously checking as well as he could to see if he could sense a malevolent presence surrounding Darryl, but as far as he could tell it was the real person.

This was more than a little strange. The relationship between the girls and Darryl was even more strained than the relationship between the girls and Chris when they'd chucked him out of the house.

Darryl stepped through the doorwar. "Uh, are Piper or Paige here?"

Chris shuffled, a little uncomfortably. "Paige is trapped in a book," he said softly. "But Piper-" He nodded. "_Piper, it's Darryl!_"

"Coming," Piper's voice floated in softly, and moments later Piper, holding the small of her back with one hand, walked into the hallway. Her eyes widened upon seeing Darryl. "Darryl! What is it?"

"I'm afraid it's bad news," Darryl said, his voice low and a little husky. Regret was splayed openly on his face. "Do you want to sit down?"

"No," Piper said, her voice wavering slightly. Chris instantly moved to her side, hovering nearby if she needed support. "What is it?"

"Do you- do you know where Phoebe has been today?" Darryl asked them.

Piper and Chris exchanged a very heavy look.

"She's missing," Chris said, eventually. "She was moved... out of shift with the rest of reality... and then Wyatt – who came back from the future – kidnapped her."

A shadow passed over Darryl's face. "I was hoping you wouldn't say anything like that," he admitted grimly. "Because we found Phoebe's body earlier this afternoon."

* * *

**T-17

* * *

**


	37. Chapter the Thirtyseventh

"_No. This is what we hoped it would be. This is what we were trying to preserve for our future. Do you remember?"

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_

**Neurotic

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

* * *

**Chapter the Thirty-seventh**

**"Wound"**

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**

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**

"Phoebe's… body?"

Darryl swallowed hard, and nodded. "I'm sorry to be the one to give you this news," he said, his voice tight. He still stood on the doorstep, as if stepping into the house would poison him. His gaze on Piper, it took him a moment to register movement behind them, and he looked up in shock to see Cole and Paul there. "Uh—"

"Yes, that's Cole," Piper said distractedly, her face almost white. Chris moved protectively to put her arms against her. "We had to, uh, resurrect him to get Paige out of the book… How did- Uh-"

"He wouldn't do this." Paul's voice carried out brazenly, and a harsh note of desperation edged it. He stalked closer to Chris, holding "He needs Aunt Phoebe alive, right?"

Chris frowned, as if trying to remember something. Piper looked up at him, a dying hope painfully bright in her eyes. "Yes. Yes he does. And no one else could have got to her while she was in Wyatt's custody."

"Wait, how can you be sure?" Cole demanded. "You've already changed the timeline, maybe what you've messed around with means he doesn't need her any more."

Chris nodded, looking down at the ground and thinking hard. "Unfortunately, that's true." He exhaled, and then looked up. "Paul, can you go with Darryl, check the body and report back if it is her?"

"Why me? You're so much better than-"

"Because Wyatt knows mom couldn't run out there and check, not in her state, and he'd be expecting both of us to run and check. We need someone with powers here to protect mom," Chris said reasonably.

"Fine," Paul ground out. "I'll go. Cole, do you-"

"Please," Cole said, with a low rough voice. He looked awful, like he was about to keep over and die, and no one blamed him. Everyone else was feeling that selfsame sinking feeling, _what if she's really dead?_

"Wait, what if Wyatt's put this as a trap?" Piper demanded, her hands on her hips. "What if Wyatt is waiting for you?"

"Then I'll orb away," Paul said impatiently. "Hello, _Whitelighter_ here."

Darryl was looking between them with a slightly crazed look on his face. "Uh, who are you?" He asked, looking at Paul. He edged a slightly worried look at Chris as well. "And _mom_?"

"Uh-uh, you stay away, you don't get to know," Piper said, a little snappishly. Darryl pulled a slightly remorseful face, but he tensed.

"Come on," Paul said. "Sooner we go, the sooner we can know if it's Phoebe."

"Heh," Chris remarked suddenly, "it's a pity you're not really Phoebe's kid, and then we could tell whether she was alive or not."

A dark looked flashed across Paul's face, and an edgy look passed between Paul and Cole. Chris' hackles rose at that look; it was the second time he'd seen Paul look like that, and the other time was with Pippa… _What was he missing?_

"I think you of all people would understand that I would want Melinda here instead of myself more than anyone," Paul said, with a quiet sort of dignity that fell into the silence. With a dark, brooding look on his face, Paul swept past Darryl, with a sharp, "Coming?" directed at Cole and Darryl.

Cole shrugged at Piper and Chris. "Someone will need to check the book. Paige had a crazy idea to go after the gangsters – you need to persuade her to go after Eddie instead. Just… write in little… clues."

Chris nodded. "Okay."

The door clattered shut loudly, and it rang in the ominous silence that followed like the clank of a prison gate.

"She- she's not dead, right?" Piper's voice was remarkably steady, but her eyes were already awash with despair and loathing and worry.

Chris moved closer to her, gathering her up and shepherding her tenderly to one of the armchairs, making her sit down. She sat down with no resistance, and when she turned her face back to him, it was grey, as if he touched her, her skin would peel away from her face and she would dissolve into nothing under his touch…

He pulled away, but stayed crouched by her feet, looking up at her. "She'll be okay," Chris promised. "For now, we can't let this disruption stop us."

Piper nodded slowly, as if something was pulling her head with strings from above.

_She won't break._ The thought flashed through Chris' mind, and as he stood up to fetch the book, he touched her cheek softly. The contact seemed to break through Piper's sudden stupor, and she looked at him gratefully, tears in her eyes.

Chris forgot about everything in that instant. He forgot about the pressing deadline, Darryl's grim words to them, the fact they only had so many days left before Wyatt was turned evil and destroyed all that was good and pure and innocent… Instead he was his mom's little boy again, and his mom was upset, and he had to stop her from being sad.

He fell on his knees to the ground, and gathered her up again, pulling her cheek against his. Her tears were wet and warmed his cooler face, and he could feel her heartbeat through him. For just that little while, she was his mom, he was her baby, and they were united in their grief.

* * *

"Nnnnggghh, who made the light so bright?" 

Stretching, and feeling more deliciously relaxed than she had in a long time, Paige squinted until she got her eyesight back. She blinked, wondering why nothing had colour in the small room, and then remembered with a sigh that they were still inside the book…

A soft chuckle from beside her made her turn, and she twisted to see Dan looking at her with a softly pleased expression on his face. She propped herself up on the pillow with one elbow, and smiled slowly back at him.

"I can't turn the sun down," Dan solemnly informed her. He reached out his hand to push her hair away from her forehead. It had been a long time since anyone had been so gentle with Paige, and she shivered from the attention. Shivered in a _definitely_ good way.

"I don't have any regrets," Paige said, and even though it was an automatic response on her part she was warmly surprised to find out she meant it.

"Me neither." He leant closer, brushed his lips over hers, and she kissed him back hungrily. Her eyes slid shut of their own accord, and she put one hand on his hip, pulling him closer. The kiss was less desperate than the night before, but no less charged with desire, and it took a loud knock at the door to snap them apart.

Paige wrinkled her nose, and Dan climbed out. She admired the view before he slid on the robe and answered the door. Uninhibited by her current state of dress, or lack therefore, she held the duvet to her chest and peered around the corner to see the clerk wheel in a small trolley, resplendent with a large breakfast.

The clerk tipped a wink at her. "Good morning, Mrs. Gordon," he said with a cheery smile and wink in her direction. Paige plastered on a large fake smile until the clerk left them alone. Dan looked faintly amused as he closed the door and headed back over to the bed, sitting down on the edge.

He uncovered the breakfast and pouted a little.

"What is it?" Paige sat up straighter, peering over his shoulder.

"It's a proper cooked breakfast," Dan said, leaning back so she could see, "but it's grey."

Paige snickered a little. "I'm hungry and I don't care. Pass it over."

Still looking a little uncomfortable with the lack of colour in the food, Dan passed her a plate and was about to get one for himself when Paige slid her arms around him and loosened his robe. He looked at her quizzically.

"So we're equally dressed," she explained, with a smirk. "I'm not eating breakfast naked if you're not, and I can't be bothered to get up and get my robe."

"I see." Dan shrugged off the robe the rest of the way, with an amused side-glance at Paige. He poked his fork dubiously into what looked like scrambled eggs and tasted it. "Well, it _tastes_ like eggs," he said, sounding a lot more relieved.

Paige rolled her eyes and dug into the breakfast hungrily. When they'd finished, Paige pulled on her wrinkled clothes again with a look of distaste. As she finger-combed her hair, she looked over at Dan as he shrugged on his jacket and mournfully held out his bow-tie again. Rolling her eyes, she helped him put it on, snatching a couple of kisses this time around.

"I am _definitely_ having a shower as soon as I get back," Paige decided as she stepped back.

Dan just nodded.

They hurried out of the hotel as fast as they could, with the clerk smirking broadly at them as they left, and stepped out into a clear white sky shining down at them. It was warm, which Paige appreciated, as her clothes were still a little damp.

"Wait," Dan called as they hit the sidewalk and Paige determinedly started to stalk in one direction. "Where are you going?"

"To the gangsters, like we discussed," Paige called back, upping her pace and running.

"_Paige_!" When he got no response, Dan started to run after her. "You pig-headed, stubborn, wi-" His muttering under his breath stopped as he saw a vortex starting to gather in the sky. _That can't be good!_ At the rate Paige was going, she was going to run straight underneath it!

Taking advantage of his more athletic build, Dan sped up, thundering down the street. He was vaguely aware of something dark thundering down towards her, and he put in a last desperate burst of energy to barrel into her and smack her bodily out of the way.

They tumbled in a heap to the sidewalk, and Dan turned back in astonishment to see a smashed piano in a million pieces behind them. Disjointed notes hung awkwardly in the air, and he turned back to Paige with a look of shock on his face.

"We've gotta stop meeting like this," Paige quipped.

Grumbling, Dan got to his feet and helped her up. "I take back what I said earlier. You _have_ seen too much film noir for your own good."

Paige settled for sticking her tongue out. "But… why would a piano want to kill me?"

"I think it was a sign," Dan said, looking awkwardly down at the debris. _If I'd be one second too late…_

"A sign?" Paige pursed her lips. "Yeah, this smacks of Piper."

"Well, it seems to me this is a sign saying you were going the wrong way," Dan said, trying not to gloat. "Seems to me your sisters are saying it would be a path that leads to death."

"Yeah, yeah," Paige growled, "gloating isn't good for your complexion."

"So we're going to get Eddie?"

Paige sighed, and nodded in agreement.

* * *

"I don't want to look." Paul squinted his eyes and edged closer to the thin metal platform where the body lay, covered in a cloth. Darryl was shooting Paul an "I told you so" look, and even Cole was feeling edgy. _What if it's-_

His throat closed up, not allowing himself to finish that thought.

"I don't think any of us want to look," Cole said, a little unsteadily.

"She can't be dead," Paul said, his voice wavering horribly. "If Phoebe dies, then Mel won't be born, and I- I can't-"

Cole was surprised to see the young Whitelighter shudder, as if someone had walked straight through him, and from the tense look on Paul's face, it looked as if he was trying to stop himself from crying.

Darryl got their first. Perhaps it was because of his own innate instincts as a father, but he seemed to know just what to do; putting an arm around Paul and soothingly rubbing his back as he shook. Paul seemed to be having difficulty breathing for a moment, until he pulled away, his eyes and cheeks reddened.

"I'm sorry," Paul managed, in a very small voice.

"Melinda is Phoebe's child?" Cole said, his voice deep as he moved closer to Paul, ignoring the still body that lay ominously on the slab.

"_Was_." Paul looked as if he was about to break down. "She and I were… close."

"Close? As cousins-close, or-?"

Paul looked sharply away, and anguish drew his features in tightly. His gaze fell to the body, and when his answer came as a whisper – "_more_" – it felt almost as if he'd dreamt it.

"I see." Cole's voice was curiously absent, as if there was someone in his body but it wasn't him.

"It wasn't- we weren't-" Paul struggled to explain himself. "Well, we were, but it was-"

"Relax," Cole said, soothingly. "Cousins, it's- It's not incest, right?"

"No," Darryl said, but he sounded even more perplexed than he had when they'd first started to talk back at the manor. Cole and Paul had been mute with horror on the way there, and now this whole conversation had gone com_plete_ly over his head.

"Wyatt still thought it was wrong," Paul said, almost professionally detached. He moved as if not on his own volition, to lift back the sheet covering the body. Cole stepped backwards in shock, and his legs wouldn't support him, for Cole had seen this before; a thousand, million times in his dreams, and a couple of heart-wrenching moments in reality too.

Phoebe's body lay there, cold and motionless and ethereal and _dead_.

Paul clinically started checking different parts of her body. A note of discordance struck Cole, for her body was still limp. _If her body was discovered hours before, and she was definitely alive earlier this day, then shouldn't rigor mortis have begun to set in?_ Cole was no expert on dead bodies, but this didn't seem right, and he let this glimmer of hope give him strength to stand.

"Chris was the only one who supported us," Paul said, still speaking as he continued the strange examination, lifting up small parts of her clothing, checking each finger pad, each knuckle depression. "Even though it only began a few months before I died, he would send me letters from the asylum, and I would write him back. Mel wrote him too. He was like _our_ therapist, even though _he_ was the one locked up in the crazy zoo."

Cole didn't understand why Paul was telling him this, except maybe for catharsis, until he realised that Paul was using it to distract himself from the horror of potentially examining his aunt's corpse.

"Mel and I got even closer when I thought Chris had abandoned me for good," Paul said, moving down to Phoebe's feet and knee pits. "Chris went to live with Victor, and Mel changed then. I guess that's when Wyatt killed her and replaced her. He was always doing that. When he killed Piper, he replaced her with a clone, and it was almost like her but not. Sort of like a robotic Piper. So when Chris tried to tell the police that Wyatt had murdered Piper and me- and when there was us, walking around the house – I suppose that was what finally got him committed for good." Paul got to his knees to look between each toe. "I guess he thought I was a clone too, when I was so cold to him after the event, but he must have thought I was dead, too." A note of surprise was in that voice, from this crisp, analytical Paul. "And I think I _knew_ Mel was a clone when Chris lived with grandpa, but I still-" A hitch in his voice. "I still loved her. I still-"

And Paul completely broke down, his hand slipping down one of the iron bars of the metal slab Phoebe's body was lying on, and he sobbed into the back of his hands. This time it was Cole who dropped down, and enveloped Paul in his arms. Paul suddenly seemed so small and vulnerable there, and Cole held him until he'd calmed down.

Paul pulled away, eventually, but stayed there on the ground, his legs tucked beneath him, his sallow face flushed and unsure.

Cole didn't want to disturb the lad after his outburst, but he had to know.

"Paul?" When Paul just continued to stare deadly at a random point on Cole's leg, Cole tried gently again. "Paul?"

"Hm?"

"Is it… is it Phoebe, or a clone?"

Paul opened his mouth to answer, but it never came, as something smashed inwards through the wall. A brutal, high-pitched laughing filled the air. Cole only had time to let out a startled shout before the wall caved in on them, everything seemed suddenly submerged in darkness, and he remembered nothing more.

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**T-16

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	38. Chapter the Thirtyeighth

"_Uh, help me out here. Last time I knew he was a six-foot Whitelighter."

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**Neurotic **

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**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me. 

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

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**Delay Warning One: **No more "Neurotic" until Thursday. I'm very aware this is a three day break, but if you have issues, raise them with my conductor.

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**Chapter the Thirty-eighth**

"**Blank Slate"

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They looked up at the door. Paige was a little unnerved suddenly, and she couldn't shake off the feeling. She shared a look with Dan, who was looking just as antsy.

"I'll go first," Paige said quietly, even though she was the one with reserves about this course of action. Dan nodded, and Paige moved to the door, pushing it open with more confidence than she felt.

"Eddie-" Paige started, but stopped in shock when she realised Eddie wasn't sat behind the desk.

Johnny the Gent was.

"Sorry to disappoint you, toots," Johnny drawled lethargically.

Dan managed to pull the gun out, but it was a little too late. Johnny had already cocked his gun directly at Paige's head. Dan swallowed.

"Drop it," Johnny instructed him slowly.

Dan dropped the gun. "Where's Eddie?"

Johnny shrugged. "I sent him out to look for the two of you. I heard you got away from the cops. Too bad you're not gonna get away from me." Before they had time to register the meaning of his words, Johnny casually squeezed the trigger, shooting Dan straight in the chest.

Dan fell to the ground with a muffled cry of pain.

"Dan!"

"Forget about him, Sweetheart," Johnny said, smirking at Paige. "His number's up." Johnny got to his feet, smoothly walking around the desk.

Paige tried not to look too much at Dan's prone body. There was so much _blood._ Her heart clenched and felt like it had dropped to the pit of her stomach. "Please," she said, locking gazes with Johnny and trying to reason with him, "we just want to get out of here, that's all, I swear." She looked up at the ceiling. "Help?"

"Well, I'm sorry," Johnny said, "but, uh, but if I want to get the Flacon out of Eddie, I can't leave any loose ends hangin' about."

Paige felt herself getting desperate. Where was the last minute clue? The just-in-the-nick-of-time piece of information?

_Piper, Phoebe, if THIS is the time you picked to take a toilet break, I'm not a happy bunny. _She looked down at Dan, hating the blood that was staining the carpet a darker grey. _And this isn't _right_, it isn't fair, he's here because of _us_, he shouldn't have to die, and even- even if he was meant to-to-to die, then it shouldn't be _here_ in black-and-white, in the pages of a dumb-ass novel!_

"Now listen. In a couple of minutes it's gonna be over for your friend over there, but you- you're a knockout." Johnny held up his gun again. "Please don't make me waste a bullet on you."

Paige was about to answer when the door opened, and Eddie walked hesitantly into the office, his eyes darkening upon noticing Dan lying bleeding on the ground.

"What's going on here?" Eddie demanded, his eyes blazing like fire.

_Maybe he _has_ got some backbone after all..._ Paige realised slowly, flickering another glance at Dan. Her heart felt like it was breaking. _Please, please let us out of here okay? I couldn't bear it if he died..._

"Eddie," Johnny said smoothly, "I didn't expect you so soon. They, uh, they came looking to get even, for you settin' 'em up."

"That's not true!" Paige instantly defended. "He killed my friend in cold blood, just like he killed your brother!"

"Wha-" Eddie looked completely floored. "What are you talking about?"

Johnny was swift to reassure Eddie, but he was starting to look a little panicked. "Don't listen to her, Eddie. You know the cops killed your brother. You know that."

"That's not true." Paige stood, hands akimbo, projecting a bravado that she did not feel. "You didn't see it, did you Eddie? It's just a story that Johnny's been telling you. Don't you see? He's been playing you from day one. He tried to force your brother into giving him the Falcon, but he wouldn't give it up, so now he's trying to charm you out of it."

"That's it," Johnny said, cocking his gun, "say goodnight, Gracie." Johnny moved to fire his gun, but there was a shot before he squeezed the trigger. Johnny yelped and dropped the gun, holding his hand as if it had been burnt. He looked down at Dan, who was weakly grasping the gun, in shock.

"What the hell?"

Paige exhaled hard, relieved. "I could really use a flashback right about now," she muttered. When nothing happened, she sighed. Her sisters really _must_ have picked a really bad time for a toilet break. She went for a different tact. "Eddie, I have a confession to make."

"Yeah?" Eddie was trembling.

"I-I was there the day your brother was killed," Paige said, her eyes downcast. Dan was flashing a sleepy _what the hell? _expression at her, and Johnny was looking a little perterbed.

"Okay, now you're definitely lying," Johnny hissed.

"I want to hear her out," Eddie said, somewhat unsteadily.

"I saw Johnny shoot Dan, Eddie," Paige said, her voice trembling. "I've been too scared to come forward to the cops, but you know how powerful Johnny is. He'd ha' killed me if I had." She begged Eddie with her eyes to believe her. "Johnny told Dan that he knew Dan had the Falcon, Dan wouldn't tell Johnny, so Johnny declared that he'd get the Falcon from _you_, one way or another, and shot Dan twice. Called him a sucker, too."

Eddie swallowed hard, and looked edgily at Johnny.

Johnny looked definitely spooked. "You're not gonna believe some broad over me? Some broad you barely know? Hell, she hardly sounds innocent to me! If she'd really seen that, she should have come forward and tried to help your brother, don't you think?"

The word _innocent_ struck something deep inside Paige. Something on Eddie's face reminded her of our own childhood, of what Dan had told her of his own childhood. _Dan was right, Eddie is an innocent..._ "Eddie," she said, fighting to keep her voice steady, "you have to stop punishing yourself. This is _not_ your fault. Your brother would not want you to live this way as if you were in some kind of prison. He would have wanted you to _grow up_, to live your life, to become part of the real world."

In the background, sounds of sirens grew louder.

"Cops," Johnny snarled, "okay, that's it!" He lurched forwards and grabbed Paige, putting his hands around her neck. She struggled. "You give me the Falcon now or I will snap her pretty little neck."

"Don't!" Paige gasped. "It's your only way out!"

"I'll do it!" Eddie yelled. Johnny stopped squeezing so hard, but Paige still couldn't get loose. "All right, all right, don't hurt her. I'll give it to you."

"This had better not be a trick, kid," Johnny said, eyeballing Eddie viciously.

"It's not," Eddie said. "I should have done this a long time ago." Eddie walked past them and headed over to the wall. Removing the picture frame to reveal a safe, Eddie quickly unlocked it and pulled out the Burmese Falcon.

"Where did you find it?" Johnny demanded, yanking Paige with him to glance closer at the Falcon. Outside the sirens halted, and the sound of car doors slamming open and closed rose into the air.

"Doesn't matter," Eddie said morosely. "All that matters is that no one else dies because of it. Let her go."

"Give it to me," Johnny commanded, his eyes wild. "I gotta go."

"You can't," Paige said desperately. "This isn't the way the story is supposed to end."

"Trust me," Eddie said, and he sounded so tired and looked so small and fragile that Paige's heart went out to him. "It is."

"Give it to me!" Johnny barked.

With a look of triumph tinged with an open regret, Eddie lifted the Falcon high above his head. Amidst Johnny's desperate "no, no, no, no, no!" Eddie smashed the Falcon down on the floor. A blinding white light appeared in a whirlwind, engulfing the whole room, and then Johnny was gone, the room was gone, the black and white was gone, and Paige, Dan and Eddie were in the manor's attic.

"Oh, my god!" Paige dropped to her knees at Dan's side, watching the blood gush out of his wound in horror. His face was contorted in pain. She brought her hands up, and willed with all her strength for her healing power to kick in. She felt a brief flash of triumph as a golden glow fell from her hands onto Dan, but it wasn't enough, it was only for a second, and it only lessened the blood flow. Paige started to call for Chris, then remembered he couldn't heal. "LEO! LEO!"

Moments later, Leo orbed into the attic. He was wearing his gold robes and looked serene, but when he looked down at Dan, his expression slid into the realms of worry. Leo bent down and healed Dan.

"Hey, we're in colour," Dan said blearily.

Tears in her eyes, Paige smiled down at him. "Don't try and move," she instructed him. She looked up at Leo. "Thanks."

Leo nodded. His face was drawn. "Where have you been? Piper's been worried sick."

"I was-" Paige opened her mouth, slightly gob-smacked. "Didn't they see us being sucked into the book?"

Leo blinked at her. "Book?"

"Yes!" Paige said, incredulous. "That book-" She turned to gesture at where the book had been, but it wasn't there. She frowned and turned back to Leo. "The book we came out of! Eddie will tell you, won't you-" She turned to find Eddie, but he wasn't there either. She frowned, hopelessly lost. "But he was just _there_!"

"He was," Dan affirmed. "His name was Eddie Mullen."

"Leo," Paige said softly. "How long have we been gone?"

"About three weeks." Leo looked at her, troubled. "I don't know whether I should be the one to tell you this..."

"What?" Instantly Paige was worried. Dan managed to get up into a sitting position, and he took her hand in his. She felt comforted by the gesture, but a sudden sickness had taken hold of her. Leo looked suddenly so much _older_ all of a sudden.

"Uh- Just over two weeks ago, Phoebe-" Leo's voice cracked.

Paige felt the floor shift beneath her. "Phoebe what?" She demanded, although her heart already supplied the answer for her. She felt as if the world had slipped from beneath her. "Phoebe _what_, Leo?"

"She's dead." Leo breathed the answer rather than said it, but had he shouted it, Paige couldn't have heard it any clearer. She stared at him in horror.

"Dead? But, that's not, I would have _known_-" Her speech was fragmentary, but she knew she couldn't break down. "How's Piper-how's she taking it?"

"She's managing," Leo said softly. "Chris has been a great help, he and Paul have taken over running P3 for her. Cole's been trying to help, but he's a nervous wreck too, and-"

"Wait a minute, Cole?" Indignation and confusion welled up, overpowering the grief she felt for a moment. "_Cole_ Cole? Demon Cole? Source of all _evil_ Cole? Phoebe's ex-demon husband Cole?"

"Yeah," Leo said, blinking, obviously confused at her outburst. "Cole Turner."

"But he- he's _dead!_" Paige felt even more perplexed when Leo burst out laughing.

"Dead, yeah- He might find that amusing, actually," Leo said, shaking his head. Paige looked at Dan, who shrugged as if to say _I don't _ever_ have a clue what Leo goes on about_.

"Is Piper downstairs?" Paige eventually demanded.

Leo closed his eyes and then opened them. "Yes."

"Fine." Paige got to her feet, and stormed past Leo.

Running down the stairs, Paige began to run through all the possibilities. Had Eddie ending the plot flung them into some alternate reality? If so, meeting with Piper should confirm it, and then she could look for a spell to get into _her_ reality... Cole was alive, and Phoebe was dead? Maybe this was an alternate reality where Phoebe couldn't vanquish Cole, and maybe killed herself instead? But from what Leo said, it sounded as if they were on close terms with Cole, and Paige couldn't picture them being real close to Cole if he caused Phoebe's death...

"Piper?"

Hurrying into the sitting room, Paige saw Piper sat on the couch. Even though Piper was now heavily, heavily pregnant (which Paige was quite relieved to see – one point scored against the alternate reality theory) she looked so small against the couch.

"Paige!" Piper turned her face to Paige, a small smile breaking through her sombre expression. Paige dropped down to Piper's feet, her hand on Piper's knees, her eyes beseeching Piper's for confirmation.

"Is it true? Is Phoebe-"

At the mention of Phoebe's name, Piper flinched. She lowered her eyes, and nodded.

"Oh, god. Oh god, oh god..." Paige's mind fluttered wildly through a thousand different scenarios. "Uh, did Chris' or Paul's memories change?" She asked. "You know, with their whole pasts changing like this..."

Piper looked up at her confusedly.

"They mentioned that Phoebe had a child," Paige said, hoping to prompt Piper's brain into working. "Just a thought..."

"Phoebe didn't have a child," Piper said slowly, looking at Paige as if she were completely insane. "Paige, where _have_ you been for the last three weeks?"

"In a book," Paige said impatiently. "Well, I'll just call Chris myself... is he at the club or out on one of his demon quests?"

"Demon quests?" Piper looked confused. "Why would Chris be out on a demon quest?"

"Oh, I don't know," Paige said, a little sarcastically, but she blamed the edge on just finding out Phoebe was _dead_. It still hadn't completely sunk in yet. "Maybe because ina week's time?- yeah, it'll be a week's time something's going to happen to _turn Wyatt evil_."

Piper looked at her now in complete bafflement. "Paige, did you hit your head?"

Suddenly suspicious, Paige looked at her. "No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm damn sure!" Paige exploded. "Why?"

"Then who's Wyatt?"

"Who's Wyatt?" Paige glanced at her in disbelief. "Your first born child?"

"I'm carrying my first born child!" Piper looked suddenly angry. "Who the hell are you? 'cause you're _not_ my sister! LEO! LEO!"

"What?" Paige got to her feet and stumbled backwards, holding her hands up protectively.

Leo hurried down the stairs, Dan in tow.

"What?" Leo said.

"This isn't our Paige," Piper said, her voice law in warning, her hands extended as if to use her power on Paige.

"Wait a minute!" Paige exclaimed.

"She said that I already had a baby called Wyatt who would be turned evil!" Piper said in disbelief.

"But that's prepostorous!" Leo moved edgily closer to Piper. "Could she be from the future? Chris and Paul came from the future, but that was to warn us about the Titans..."

"But-" Paige started.

"Get out. Get _out_! You're not my sister, so stop parading around as if you are! Don't you think I've lost _enough_ in the last couple of weeks to have you parading this shit around me? Get _out_!"

Paige stared in absolute horror as Piper exploded at her. She did the only thing that occurred to her, that managed to filter through her brain. Grabbing Dan, her mind whirling in horror, she did as Piper shouted and left.

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**T-15

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	39. Chapter the Thirtyninth

"_You don't have anything pressing? Then why exactly did you come back from _the future in the first place?"

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**Neurotic **

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**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me. 

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

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**Chapter the Thirty-ninth**

"**Slowly, Slowly"

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"I see. I'll pass the word on to Paul. Uh-huh. You take care."

Chris placed the handset back on the cradle, his fingertips pressed heavily against the bench where he rested. The skin turned white where he was pressing, and flushed red when he pulled them away.

Picking up the cloth he'd been cleaning with before the phone had gone off, Chris sauntered easily back into the main section of the bar, where Paul was stacking bottles and glasses behind the counter.

"Hey, Paula." Chris' voice was light and teasing.

A dark mop of black hair surfaced from behind the counter, and two dark eyes like holes narrowed in warning. "Christina," Paul batted back easily.

"Touché," Chris admitted, moving with a feline grace to lean on the counter. "That was Piper. Apparently Paige turned up."

"She did?" Paul grinned. "That's fan_tas_tic. Wh-"

"Not so fast, kiddo." Chris fixed Paul with a dark look. "Apparently she was sprouting some weird stuff about being trapped in a book with some guy called Dan Gordon, and then went on about how Piper's first child is missing."

Paul leant back in amusement, tis fingers tracing the bottle he was holding. "Dan Gordon, isn't he the guy mom used to date before she married dad?"

"_Paul_. Not so loud!" Chris lowered his voice to a conspiritorial whisper. "Just 'cause Grandpa knows doesn't mean anyone _else_ should. You _know_ Leo still doesn't trust us yet."

"Aye, he _is_ a proper git bag," Paul said knowingly, nodding his head.

"_Git_ bag?" Chris looked puzzled.

Paul shook his head. "You're totally behind on what's cool, aren't you?"

"Am not," Chris retorted, but a puzzled look swept across his face. "Was that cool when we left the future?"

"Duh, yes," Paul said, looking entirely more amused than he probably should be. "Why? Feeling your age?"

"Ha, ha," Chris muttered. "'m only nine months older than you and you know it."

"Nine months can make a huge difference. You can get a girl pregnant and she can have a baby in nine months."

"You checked the stores yet?"

"Chr-iiiissss!"

Chris raised a single eyebrow. Paul sighed, and yanked a clipboard from the countertop before swanning off to the back store rooms in a sulk. Chris coolly watched him go before turning to the shadows.

He shook his head. "How long have you been there?"

The shadows rustled, and Paige walked out from them, dirt streaked down her pretty white dress, Dan standing guardedly behind her.

"Piper warned you I would be coming," Paige said, her voice soft, her hands extended and palms open to show she wouldn't harm him.

"She suspected you might try me next," Chris said evenly. His right hand twitched as if he was restraining himself from using his power. "Who are you?"

"I _am_ Paige," Paige said quickly, her voice low. "Three weeks ago, a book was delivered to the mansion. I opened it and got sucked into the book."

Chris glanced at her appraisingly. "But you have no proof."

Getting frustrated, Paige tried not to show her annoyance. "No, I don't. And Piper says she knows _nothing_ about Wyatt!"

"Leo Wyatt?" Chris questioned.

"No, Wyatt as in Piper Halliwell's first son! The reason you came back to the past!"

"Uh, I came back because the Titans destroyed my future-" Chris started.

"Save it," Paige said, sounding disgruntled. "Look, maybe I'm in some sort of alternate reality, okay? What happened to _your_ Paige if that's the case?"

"She justdisappeared," Chris said, gesturing slightly. A blank look fell on his face.

"What, disappeared as in woke up one morning, walked out of the door, never came back? Disappeared as in demons took me? Disappeared as in-"

"I- I don't" Chris squinted, suddenly unsure, and he looked at her softly. "Wyatt"

Struck by the uncertainty on Chris' face, Paige realised another possibility, far more possible than the alternate reality one. "Or is it likely your memory was wiped? You mentioned to me that whatever turns Wyatt – and destroys the future – happens before Piper's second child is born. Wouldn't it be possible that Wyatt from the future wiped all your memories?"

"Wyatt from the future? And whatever _turns _Wyatt?" Chris was looking absolutely bewildered, but also slightly stunned. Paige knew that if Chris was one hundred per cent sure that she wasn't talking absolute rubbish then she'd have been out of there on her ass before a minute had passed. Some part of Chris, at least, believed her.

"Well, think about it. Wyatt wouldn't – even if you only believe this situation hypothetically – be the _first _of Piper and Leo's children to come back to the past," Paige said reasonably.

Chris' jaw dropped. "How the hell did you-" He looked completely flustered, and his cheeks flushed a little. "How did you _know_?"

Paige sighed impatiently. "P-"

"You told us," Dan broke in quickly. Paige looked at him quizzically, wondering about the reaction. She opened her mouth to speak, but he squeezed her hand tightly. The meaning was clear, the words plain by his expression even though he didn't speak outloud: _no, let me talk._ "You told us that you were Piper and Leo's second son."

Chris' eyebrows knotted together, and Paige suppressed the small hiss that wanted to come out. She looked up angrily at Dan that he didn't tell her, flashed a shocked look at Chris and forced herself to look calm even as her insides rolled in confusion. "I- I did? I don't-" He looked horribly lost. He looked at them. "Does Piper know?"

Dan shook his head. "Not that I know of. But we've been gone three weeks. You may have told her yourself."

Chris looked a little winded, and he obviously didn't know what to do with himself. His eyes flittered over the floor, then between Paige and Dan nervously. "And you say we... don't have much time?"

Paige let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Chris had obviously felt enough confusion and bafflement to at least start to believe them. Or, at least, believe it was possible.

"I suppose we only have a week now," Paige said, trying to figure out the math in her head.

"_Chris, is everything all right?"_

Paul's voice floating through from the store room made Chris turn like a startled faun. Blinking rapidly, as if trying to do long division in his head, Chris managed to stutter, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just gonna go out- I've got a meeting with the band manager we booked for next month."

The sound of footsteps coming closer filled the small club, and Chris quickly gestured at Dan and Paige. Understanding, Dan pulled Paige back into one of the small alcoves, yanking the curtain closed and putting his hand over Paige's mouth.

Paige lightly smacked him away and leaned in closer to listen. Half-hidden, she could barely make out Paul's face, creased in worry and annoyance.

"All right," Paul was saying. "You wanna pick me up some fried chicken while you're out?"

"I thought Whitelighters couldn't eat," Chris replied, almost absent-mindedly.

"Uh, Chris, did you get hit on the head or something? Or are you just regressing to insanity?"

"Hey!" Chris automatically replied. "_Low_ blow. At least _I'm_ not the one who kissed my own cousin."

"That was bloody _once_ and you know it," Paul snapped back, "and _that_ was even a lower blow, and you fucking well know it too." He paused. "Okay, twice. Damn you."

"What_ever_." Chris paused. It was quite an awkward silence. "So, chicken?"

"Yep."

"You finished in the store cupboard?"

Paul rolled his eyes. "No. At least lock the door when you leave."

"Lock you in?"

"Hello, I can _orb_."

"Oh, yeah."

With a lookof fatigue crossing his face, Paul turned and stalked back to the store cupboard. As soon as the door clicked shut, Paige and Dan hurried out of their hiding places.

"Kissed his cousin?" Paige looked faintly confused.

"You really don't want to know," Chris said absently. "Wyatt killed her before it could go anywhere."

"_Wyatt killed her before it could go anywhere?_" Paige repeated in dull amazement.

"Yeah," Chris said confusedly. Then he stopped. Squinting, he pulled a face at her. "Did I just" He looked dazed. "I need to sit down," he said plaintively.

Dan thoughtfully pulled one of the stools out for him, and Chris collapsed onto it, sinking his head into his hands. He made a gurgling sound into his hands, and then raised his head.

He inhaled slowly, as if he was about to say something profound. "Fuck," he managed instead, sounding plaintive and lost.

"Exactly," Paige agreed. "Hang on... The spell didn't quite work the way we expected it to last time, but" She frowned. "It might work."

"What are you going on about?" Dan looked between Paige and Chris. Chris looked almost as if he knew what she was going on about, but as if the memory was hazy.

"About a year ago when Chris first came, Wyatt conjured a dragon from the television screen," Paige said, explaining it to Dan. "There's these magical beings called the Cleaners, and they erased all knowledge of Wyatt from the world. We cast a spell to get our memories back of the day that was missing, and we _relived_ the day instead. But from Chris' vague recollections of Wyatt, I would hazard a guess at a memory altering spell, or perhaps memory dust..."

"Memory dust?"

"It's a powder Whitelighters have at their disposal," Chris said slowly. "It can cause people to forget things. Leo often whinges a lot when he has to use it, and has this really big moral spiel about why he hates to do it – people could forget their own children's birthdays, or an important meeting, for example – but he really gets so whiny because of theside-effects." Chris looked almost embarrassed.

"Side-effects?" Despite the gravity of the situation, Paige was abruptly curious.

"Uh, sexual side effects," Chris muttered.

Paige snorted in laughter. "Ohhh, boy," she said, with a soft giggle.

"Come on," Chris said softly. "We'd better go into one of the offices. Paul will get suspicious if he comes out and finds us here."

Paige and Dan nodded and followed him as he went into one of the side offices. Chris sat down on the couch, looking expectantly up at Paige and Dan as they came in and sat on the desk.

"Can you remember the spell?" Chris asked Paige when it became apparent she didn't know what he was waiting for.

"Oh! I think so." Paige turned, and picked up the notepad strewn carelessly on the desk, swiping a pen as she did so.

"So we're assuming it's memory dust, then?" Chris looked up at her through his hair, and Paige was struck just in that moment by the fact that Chris' eyes were just that same almost comforting colour Leo's eyes were. _How didn't I see it before? "_So I should just... get my memories back..."

Paige made an sound of affirmation and passed him the sheet of paper. "Here you go."

Chris managed a weak sarcastic smile and took the paper, unfolding it and scanning over the words before he spoke them outloud. "Moments lost make this witch wonder, warlock's plot or demon's plunder? If this is not a prank, help me fill in the blanks."

There was a tentative hush as everything seemed to freeze for a moment, and Chris' face registered a soft disappointment that it didn't work for only a second, before he suddenly folded over in pain; his face creased up and suddenly very red. He smacked his head into the corner of the couch, one soft whimper of pain escaping him before he clenched his teeth and pulled all his limbs in so he was as small as possible. Sweat stood out on his forehead, and he inhaled sharply. His breathing got harder, and Paige slipped forwards, grabbing his hand between her own.

After an agonising minute that almost seemed like an hour as pain washed over Chris. Paige stroked his hand, trying to calm him as he thrashed a little, and eventually he calmed. He turned his head, anguish etched on his face, and Paige was surprised to see anger on his normally calm features.

"He wiped our memories," Chris breathed, his voice harsh. "The son of a-" He stopped himself before he finished that sentence, but it rang in the air anyway, unspoken. Pulling himself up into a sitting position, he realised Paige was still clinging onto his hand. A thought struck him, and he looked up at her, startled. His green eyes were wide and moist. "You- you- didn't _know_. You didn't know who-"

"Don't make yourself sick over it," Paige said, her voice surprisingly tender. She smiled at him, wonder on her face. "We've got other things to worry about."

Chris sounded unsure, but hung his head. "Yeah."

"Hey," Paige admonished him softly. "This is a setback. But we'll figure everything out."

"Will we?"

Paige was struck by the doubt and pain in Chris' voice. She smothered the urge to hug him. _I'm not normally this motherly around people... but he's bringing out the instinct in me. _"Yes, we will," she said, surprised by the strength in her own voice. "We'll get Piper and Leo and Paul their memories back, and we'll get whomever gets Wyatt."

"But" Chris' face was drawn with pain. "Phoebe..."

Paige tensed, and she felt Dan's hand warm on her own shoulder. Slightly strengthened, Paige inhaled and exhaled slowly. Her voice wavered, though, as she tried to speak. "We'll manage. Even if we don't have-" Her voice hitched. "The power of three anymore..."

"No, that's not it." Chris' face was dark. "We figured out that she'd been pushed out-of-phase with it, and I resurrected Cole." He had the grace to look embarrassed. "But that's not- Cole, Paul and I went to examine Phoebe's body to see if it was one of Wyatt's clones."

Paige looked at him hard, hope rising in her throat. "And was it?"

"I don't know." Chris sounded miserable. "That must be when Wyatt worked his magic mojo on us."

"Did you not get a chance to examine her then?" Paige quizzed him, confused.

"Paul did the examining," Chris said. "He was just about to tell us when- I don't know... The wall caved in, I think." He looked troubled. "Her body must have gotten damaged then... Her face was..." He looked abruptly sick.

"Sshh. It's okay." Paige took her hand away, and turned her head to the door, just in time for Paul to push the door open. She sighed and froze.

"Chris?" Paul's voice was filled with uncertainty as his eyes flickered over the scene. "Chris, what's going on? I thought you said-"

"Paul, do you trust me?"

"Y-yes, but-"

"Then read this." Chris passed the spell over to Paul, who numbly took it. "But substitute witch for Whitelighter."

"How did you-" Paul's face was open and frozen in shock.

"How did I know you were a Whitelighter?" Chris stood up, and guided the numb Paul to the couch. "Read it."

Looking between the three people in utter consternation, Paul did as he was told and read the spell. The pain hit him as fast as it had Chris, and Chris held him softly until the pain stopped. Paul's face was ashen as he sat up again, and he looked at Chris in horror.

"That son of a bitch," Paul whispered.

"I'm not the one who's gonna tell mom you called her a bitch," Chris informed him darkly.

Paul swore so violently and inventively that Paige blushed and Dan chuckled a little. He looked at Chris in anguish. "We've lost so much _time_! The git bag knew _just_ what he was doing, didn't he!"

"Yes." Chris' face was closed. "And we need to get mom and dad to remember as soon as possible, else..." He trailed off. "But one more important thing first. Did you manage to see if Phoebe was really-" Chris' throat tightened, and he forced the words out regardless. "-was really dead?"

Paul nodded, and opened his mouth to speak. Which was exactly the moment as the door splintered inwards. An energy ball flew through the air with vicious speed towards Chris and Paul, and Chris managed to fling both himself and Paul from the old couch as the energy ball smashed full force into the hapless piece of furniture.

Chris was vaguely aware than Dan and Paige had taken refuge behind the desk too, and his head twisted in horror to see a familiar blonde-haired figure standing in the doorway, holding an energy ball and looking _incredibly_ pissed.

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**T-14

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	40. Chapter the Fortieth

"_Someday when I ask you what it feels like to kill ... don't lie to me. Don't tell me you don't feel a thing."

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**Neurotic **

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**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me. 

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

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**Chapter the Fortieth**

"**Ashes"

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Lynn made sure her athame was stashed where she could quickly get at it. Bending to her knees, she looked up at her small daughter. Bianca was looking at her with widened eyes, looking as cute as cute can be and swinging her chubby six-year old legs in complete incomprehension as to what was going on.

Reaching up her hand, Lynn tucked one of Bianca's soft brown locks behind her ear, and crinkled a smile at her baby girl.

"Bianca, baby, I won't be long. Mummy has a job to do and I'll be right back. You sit inside this car. And remember, if you see one of the bad people-"

"-duck and hide. If I can get out, run as fast as I can to one of the safe places. If they get close, kick them in the bad place and scream for one of the mortals passing by. Or shimmer away to the crypt if no one else is around." Bianca recited the instructions in a strident sing-song voice. Lynn beamed at her.

"Get in there," Lynn commanded softly, kissing her daughter's cheek and tracing one finger over her daughter's fire-red birthmark, the sign of their heritage. "I'll be right out, I promise."

Bianca smiled widely at her mother as Lynn closed the door on her, striding away purposefully, adjusting the amulet around her neck to make sure it was in place and brushing one hand impatiently through her cropped blonde locks as she walked into the entrance of the nightclub.

Her eyes grazed the sign "P3" almost clinically, smiling in grim satisfaction that she had found the right place. Mr. Wyatt had given her flawless directions. Lynn turned to check on her daughter, and felt that small rush of pride she always did when she caught sight of that happy, smiling face. Comforted, Lynn strode to the doorway and kicked the door open, unaware that that last glimpse of her daughter was the last one she would ever have.

All Lynn was currently aware of was the faint murmur of voices, and she hurried down the steps, blending into the shadows as she relied on her training to get her down into the club unnoticed.

She dodged back right into the darkest corner as she saw the back of someone's head. A dark-haired figure was moving into one of the side offices. Lynn reached out with her senses. _There_.

Confident now, she moved forwards to the office and listened in at the door.

".._lost so much _time," a quite deep young male voice was saying. "_The git bag knew just what he was doing, didn't he_!"

"_Yes,"_ another voice said._ "And we need to get mom and dad to remember as soon as possible, else... But one more important thing first. Did you manage to see if Phoebe was... was really dead?"_

_That's my cue!_

Viciously Lynn kicked out, smashing the door in, powering up an energy ball as she leapt at the door. She let the energy ball rip as soon as the door opened, powering up several more in quick succession, slamming them into the room. She recognised the female as she dived over the desk, yanking a handsome man with her as she went, but Lynn wasn't too bothered about them.

It was the two younger men that were her quarry after all.

She kept the energy balls flying at the boys, and occasionally at the man and woman behind the desk to stop them from attacking. The older of her two targets, the pretty young man with brown hair slanting like curtains over blazing green eyes and with danger on his face, jerked his hand and some of her energy balls slammed back at her.

_Telekinesis._ Mr. Wyatt had warned her about that, and she retreated out of the office, still keeping up the barrage of energy balls as best as she could, slamming them into the small room one after the other. Cautiously she backed right up against the opposite wall, remembering one other thing: that three of them could orb.

However, even though she held that knowledge in the foreground of her mind, she was unprepared for all three to appear at once, so close to her. The darker-haired young man grabbed the arm she'd been sending energy balls with, and she yanked out the athame fluidly, only for the woman to bellow "athame!" The athame disappeared from her hand, and she gaped for a second.

It was the second that cost the battle for her.

The brown-haired man gestured, and her hands flew up, the back of her hands flat against the wall. He kept his hands tensed in the same position; he was using his telekinesis to restrain her. She marvelled for a moment at how much control he had over his powers for someone for so young, but the gravity of her situation struck her, and she glared instead of the brown-haired man. _Chris Perry,_ Mr. Wyatt had called him, showing her a photo. The photo had been of a younger teenager, but this man in front of her was definitely Chris, albeit a grown up version. It was his eyes that gave him away, and the distinctive mole on his nose.

"What are you going to do with me?" Lynn asked brazenly when it appeared the witches weren't going to say anything.

"Who hired you?" Chris demanded, his voice cool and almost aloof.

Lynn smirked. "A phoenix never gives away their hirer's name."

Chris jerked his hand, and her cheek smashed against the wall.

"Chris!" The woman gasped, her eyes wide in horror, while the other one – _he must be Paul_ – just looked resigned.

"Well, we could stand here and do this all day," Chris said evenly, his hand poised to hit her with his telekinesis again, "or I could go out and get your little girl and do it to _her_ in front of you."

Lynn let out a strangled sound that came from the base of her throat.

"Bianca, isn't it?" Chris tilted his head. An angry flush covered his cheeks, and he looked incredibly pissed. "Brown hair, fondness for Frank Sinatra records, and strawberry jam and pickle sandwiches? She'd be about five now, wouldn't she?"

"Six," Lynn breathed out automatically, despair clutching at her heart. _How did he know about her... unless he'd been _watching _them..._

"In fact, I'd bet she's outside," Paul added, a malevolence to his tone, "probably sat in your SUV, waiting for you to kill us and then go back to her, maybe play a game, go to Burger King, and go home. Have a nice bedtime story, and then go to bed. Where she'd be _all alone_."

"To be honest, though, we know who hired you." Chris' eyes seemed to look past her into somewhere deep inside her, and she withered from the intensity of the stare. "Did he tell you I'm from the future? About twenty years."

"N-no"

"So is he," Chris said evenly, although his brow was a bit more creased and his breathing slightly laboured. "And in the future, I was there when he killed Bianca. A grown-up Bianca. The grown up Bianca you met several months ago. She came back to retrieve me, and when she failed, he killed her. Stabbed her through the heart, and then cut her head off-"

"Stop, stop it!" Lynn shrieked, the words burning and bruising her throat. "I can't bear it, I can't!" She remembered the loathing on that grown-up version of her daughter.

"So I think you're likely to co-operate with us and tell us exactly how Wyatt told you how to contact him when your job was done," Chris said levelly, danger giving his voice an edge like a newly sharpened blade. It cut heavily and swiftly through the atmosphere, piercing into their hearts with an inevitable dread. "I would hate to have to do the same to your young daughter. I would _hate _it more than you could ever understand. But I will not hesitate to do so if you don't tell us how to find him."

"She came to this time to get you, didn't she?"

"Yes. And Wyatt killed her for failing. I am sure he will do the same for you, too, unless we can stop him before he does."

"You're too late." Lynn smiled at him sardonically, hatred flashing in her eyes, the amulet flashing at her throat. Chris saw it, and took an involuntary step backwards.

"He's tied the success of this mission to your own life," Chris hissed out in disbelief.

Lynn smiled sardonically. "He gave me the choice to risk my life or Bianca's. But I intend to risk neither!" At that, she somehow found the strength and power to lunge forwards, trusting that Chris had been distracted enough not to hold her securely. She trusted correctly; Chris hadn't been concentrating enough to keep her trapped there, but at her brisk movement he reacted instinctively. He brought his arm up viciously, striking her against the wall. Her head smashed into the wall first, and she crumpled like a broken doll. Her eyes flickered, and then slid shut. A final groan issued from her throat, and it was all the warning they got before the amulet spluttered and engulfed Lynn in a dark crackle of energy. A dark shot of energy lanced through her heart, and she cried out before the energy completely engulfed her and she exploded in a howl of rage.

There was a stunned silence, and Chris found himself looking down at the remains in complete, final despair. _I've changed so much here..._ Desperation and pain welled in his throat, and he sank to the floor, his fingertips touching where Lynn had lain in pain. This hadn't happened for several years. He'd just condemned Bianca to the life _he'd_ known – a life without her mother.

He shook for a moment with silent tears that no one saw and that did not fall, before standing, resolutely dry eyed and tense with a fury. Paige and Dan remained silent, unnerved by this silently enraged Chris.

Chris clenched his fists uselessly, anger cooling his eyes into dangerous slits, and he probably would have done something rather rash, had it not been for the thin voice croaking: "Mama?"

Chris turned, and it was almost to him as if he were turning in slow motion. At the top of the stairs, looking small and vulnerable in the darkness, stood a small girl with long brown hair, a pretty blue dress, wide open brown eyes and a distinctive blood-red birthmark on her wrist. Bianca stumbled forwards with a soundless cry when she realised her mother was gone.

"Mama?"

Chris breathed out rapidly twice, looking to the ground and his mouth moving as if he was trying to say something, but no words were coming out. His back was tense, but when he looked up this time, his eyes shone with a desperate honesty.

He called out, "Bianca?"

The young girl blinked. "How did- how did you know my name?"

Chris shrugged, and spread his arms. "Didn't your mother ever tell you to run away if you were in the presence of dangerous strangers?"

"You would... hate to hurt me." Bianca's voice trembled a little, but she did not cry. Paige felt Dan come up behind her, and she grasped for his arm for a strength she could not find within her. At the touch of his hand on her she found the strength to remain standing, but not for much else. This girl had seen her own mother vanquished, and was still so _strong_.

"I would." Chris advanced to Bianca, and the small girl stepped down the stairs, meeting him near the bottom. She stayed up a few steps so she was almost as tall as him. He didn't explain if he meant he _would_ hurt her, or he _would hate_ to hurt her. Apparently he didn't have to. "I'm sorry."

"Wasn't your fault. It was the big nasty man's fault. Mr. Wyatt." Bianca's voice fell a little, but she remained strong. "I'll tell you where he is."

Chris felt a rush of triumph, but forced himself not to dwell in it for too long. Young Bianca had seen something she should _never_ have had to see. "Why?" He almost stumbled when he felt her hand on his, small and pale and cold. He looked at her, startled.

"I trust you." Her voice wavered but her gaze did not. "I don't know why, but I do."

A small smile swept onto his face, but he still pulled his hand away. "I'm Chris Perry. Nice to meet you."

"Bianca Brooks," Bianca said, dropping a little curtsy. "Perry, what's going to happen to me?"

He didn't have the heart to correct her that his name was Chris, not Perry, and it didn't even occur to him to tell her his surname was Halliwell. _Lying so much has _really_ messed you up._ "You don't have any other relatives, do you?"

Bianca shook her head. "Can I stay with you?"

Chris blinked at her request, and Paul started to laugh in the background. He shot an angry look at his brother, who suddenly developed a coughing fit. Chris almost felt vindictively pleased until he heard the word _pervert_ floating out amongst the coughs. Another glare silenced Paul, and he turned back to Bianca, who was twisting her foot on the ground. "Uh, I don't think so," he muttered, going a little red. She looked disappointed. "I'll find you somewhere," he promised instead. "I'll find you someone amazing to live with."

"All right." Bianca seemed to think that was the end of the deal, and she skipped down the rest of the steps, and walked over to Paige. "I know you. You moved into the same building as us once."

"You've got a good memory," Paige marvelled. "Fancy using that memory to show us where Wyatt is?"

"_Mr_. Wyatt," Bianca corrected, but nodded. "Yes. He's living by the beach, in a house, with a pretty lady and a baby."

"A pretty lady and a baby?" Chris eyes widened, and he turned to Paul, who was nodding.

"The baby has to be baby Wyatt," Paul said smoothly, a small smirk quirking at the corner of his mouth.

"And?"

"And _what?_"

"The pretty _lady_," Chris ground out, frustrated. "Is it Phoebe?"

Paul looked at him, adopting a guileless expression. "How would I know? I haven't seen this pretty lady," he said. Chris clenched his fist and assumed his patented _I'm-your-older-brother-and-I'm-going-to-smack-your-bitch-ass-down_ expression. "Of course, it very well could be. Providing he's put her back in phase with the rest of the world."

"No wonder you masqueraded really well as evil," Chris muttered, reaching out to smack Paul, who dodged nimbly out of the way.

"Wait, wait," Dan said quickly, looking between them all and looking baffled. "What have you just figured out?"

Paige looked at him with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face that answered his question for him, but she still spoke the words out loud as if she needed to hear them to believe them herself. "It means," she said simply, "that Phoebe is alive."

* * *

**T-13**


	41. Chapter the Fortyfirst

"_I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

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**Neurotic

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**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

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**Delay Warning Two: **I'm so sorry for the delay. I had so many university deadlines that I haven't slept for the last three days: as a result, I am now extremely physically and mentally exhausted. I shall be updating daily until Wednesday: the final six chapters will be spaced out a little more (perhaps one every two/three days) as I am going home for three weeks and want to spend some time with my mother.

_Edit: This was a lie. Updates shall be much slower._

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**Chapter the Forty-first**

"**Anew"

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It was, Phoebe decided, particularly peculiar to have one Wyatt gurgling at her and one Wyatt smirking at her. Ignoring the one smirking down at her, she put the bottle to young Wyatt's mouth, and her nephew drank greedily.

"So how are you feeling?"

Phoebe edged a dark look at the young man glaring at her, a smirk on his face. "Dead to the world," she muttered, earning a delighted laugh from Wyatt.

"Oh, you're still snarking about that small thing?" Wyatt rolled his eyes and leaned backwards against the wall, his black eyes scanning over her even as his face was blank. "C'mon, Aunt _Pheebs_, you've died a whole bunch o' times."

"Is that your normal justification for murder?"

"I don't murder." Wyatt's voice was cool, and she looked up in disbelief. "I reduce the world's surplus population, perhaps…"

"You really believe that, don't you?" Phoebe couldn't believe it. The words were so cruel, so callous and spoken with so much direct honesty that she couldn't bear it.

Wyatt shrugged. "You could say it's my ideology. Or you could believe the post-ideologists and say it's just a discourse, and analyse it as text - you could say everything I believe is just made up of signifiers, signs, semiotics… Changed from something that can be believed, something that can alter power into just harmless words." He leaned forwards. "But then, in our business, words have the most power of them all. Have you ever heard of the Book of Words?"

Confused by his words, Phoebe shook her head. In her arms, young Wyatt was a little distressed, and she pulled him closer, settling her hand in his golden curls.

"It has had many names in its time. The Book of Ages. The Eternal Book. The Book of Night with Moon. The Naming of Lights. Ah, I see a flicker of recognition..."

Phoebe scowled and bounced young Wyatt on her knee, edging another look at the forcefield and wishing it wasn't there for the zillionth time. "That last one sounds familiar..."

"You've probably seen it while flicking through the Book of Shadows," Wyatt said coolly. "Believe me, your life will get a little easier once Chris is of age to log the Book of Shadows electronically. He may be a traitor, but damn, he's got a strategical mind. Crazy, but then most geniuses are. That's why I kept him around for a little while. I did hope to tether that intelligence to my own aims, of course, but he's still stuck in that _useless_ good versus evil thing you and mom and Aunty Paige were all _so_ fond of before you died."

He spoke of their deaths so casually... Phoebe tried not to shiver, but it was hard. "And yet you're keeping your previous self away from Gideon," Phoebe said coolly.

"Of course," Wyatt said. "It's final proof, after all." He looked out of the window. "Chris is adament that something 'turned' me before his birth. I maintain that good and evil don't matter. Of course, altering the timeline may alter the amount of power I have, but I'm willing to take that risk."

"And what if there _is_ good and evil, and doing this changes you?" Phoebe demanded.

"I highly doubt it," Wyatt said smoothly. "Even so. I am strong as I can become in the future. What's life without a little challenge?"

"So what's this Book of Lights?"

"Book of _Words_." Wyatt sounded almost delighted with her slip-up. "It's a dictionary, describing everything in the world."

"A dictionary?" Phoebe was intrigued despite herself. If she could find out why Wyatt was interested in it, and then interfere with his _getting_ of it, then that could only be a good thing...

"The _definitive_ dictionary," Wyatt explained. "Everything in the universe, outside the universe. Every single living entity, every single item, every particle. Every abstract concept."

"But- even if that were possible- there's no language on _Earth_ to describe _everything_," Phoebe said, finding herself arguing with him instinctively, and feeling an almost perverse enjoyment of the discussion. Over the last couple of weeks Wyatt had spent a few hours bantering with her every day. At first she'd thought it was to try and get her to empathise with his cause, to join him against the others, but slowly she'd been wondering something else. If Wyatt truly _had_ killed a lot of the population in the future, then maybe there just wasn't anyone left to argue _with_. _It must get awfully lonely ruling from the top of the world on your own..._ "And the Book itself would be as _large_ as the universe."

"Perhaps," Wyatt countered, "if the universe and magic worked on the same basic principles and laws. Which they don't. And besides, who says it's even written in an _Earth_ language?"

"Me," Phoebe said, with a small smile, before she caught herself and neutralised her expression. She knew from the mocking look on Wyatt's face that he had caught the slight smile. "Chris said once that you'd outlawed smiling."

"And farting."

"I see. Guess you were a real momma's boy before you killed her." Phoebe's words were casual, but her eyes glinted hard, angry.

"Indeed I was," Wyatt said softly, not rising to the bait. He leaned back further on the chair, stretching his legs out and folding his arms across his chest.

"So who was your favorite aunt?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Phoebe decided to have a little fun as she was there. "You don't believe in good or evil, so..."

"...so I have absolutely no manners?" Wyatt demanded incredulously. "My, my. The constraints in your way of thinking are showing, Aunt Phoebe." He looked at the child in her arms, laughed to himself, and then looked away again. "Incidentally, you were."

"I was?" Unable to help herself, Phoebe grinned. "Why?"

"Because Paige -sharing the half-Whitelighter bond- had a greater affinity with Chris, Paige was my teacher at school and often raised merry hell for me, and also you had the higher-paying job." He smiled predatorily. "Better birthday presents."

"I see," Phoebe said, unsure of whether to be thrilled or not that the nephew that turned evil and wrecked the world preferred _her_.

"And mom loved us all equally," Wyatt added coolly, "which was partly her undoing. She never _did_ know when to let go of dead weight. But I suppose if she did, she would have dropped Leo years ago and I wouldn't exist."

"You say that like it's an awful thing," Phoebe commented.

"Ouch, you wound me," Wyatt said, sarcastically.

"So you're looking for that Book then? I assume that's why you brought the subject up."

Wyatt smiled cagily at her. "Once I have the final proof that good and evil don't matter, I intend to find the Book and erase both good and evil from it. Both are, after all, useless concepts."

Phoebe couldn't quite stop the hurried swallow, and Wyatt laughed at her reaction. "You can't do that," Phoebe breathed.

"Oh?" Wyatt said. "Finding the Book might be hard, I admit, but... I think the end result will be quite interesting to discover."

Phoebe said nothing, struck by the implications, until one rose up from the masses of possibilities. "You're going to... erase entries, aren't you?"

Wyatt shrugged. "And you see that as evil, yet... it potentially happens all the time. We wouldn't even know any different."

"But that- that's-" _horrible_.  
"In fact, the definitions for good and evil could have been swapped, and you wouldn't even know it," Wyatt added.

Phoebe shivered.

Wyatt noted her reaction and laughed.

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"Okay, she's alone." Paul's eyes snapped open, and they exchanged looks on the pavement before looking up at the manor. The windows seemed dark, like eyes, and gave them the eerie feeling that they were being watched by the brooding building. 

"How are we going to approach this?"

Paige was struck by the vulnerability in Chris' voice. Ever since he'd orbed into their lives he'd been cocksure, confident of what he was doing, and now she could see the panic in his mien, the ghost of uncertainty in his eyes. He was unsure, and he was letting them see. "Uh, surround her?" Paige flickered a look back at her car, where young Bianca watched them from behind the glass, and looked back at Chris.

"That might only intimidate her," Dan said softly, _always the voice of reason..._ "From what I gather you need Piper to recite the spell..."

"Not necessarily," Paige said. "I can rewrite it so she doesn't have to say it. However there _is_ one thing I'm worried about."

"What?" Chris' eyes were round. A thousand different scenarios were obviously whizzing through his head in a psychedelic fast forward of brutal and horrifying images, for his face paled a little, and his sea-coloured eyes darted more rapidly up the manor.

"It hurt you and Paul getting your memories back," Paige explained, worry shining on her face despite her resolve to be calm and strong to support Chris _her nephew! oh god..._ "And Piper's carrying _you_ right now..."

"So it could cause her to have the baby early?" Paul looked shocked at the idea, and tugged at Chris' sleeve absent-mindedly, as if it were a deeply ingrained instinct. "Chris, if that happens we're _screwed._ Whatever happens to Wyatt happens before you're born, so if you're born _now_... it means we've lost." A bleak expression slid onto his face with the finality of a grave stone.

"Not necessarily," Chris murmured incomprehensibly. A dark expression slid onto his face and quietly, in the depths of his eyes, a door slammed shut. "I might be able to..." He didn't finish the sentence, and Paige was about to indignantly ask Paul what the hell Chris meant when she saw Paul's confused expression. Whatever Chris was planning Paul had no idea over. "Paige," Chris said, and Paige lifted her head when she realised he was talking to her, "have you got the spell ready in your head?"

Paige nodded.

"All right," Chris said, and a brisk temperent slid around him almost like a shield. He moved with efficiency hanging around him almost tangibly up the steps, and somehow his direct movements compelled them to follow. He opened the door and stalked inside, and in a gaggle they followed him there too.

"Chris?" Paige heard Piper's voice before she got to see her, and when they arrived in the living room, Piper was staring up at Chris and them in horror. "Chris, what's going on?"

"Piper, do you trust me?" Chris put himself in front of Paige and Dan, and locked gazes with Piper.

"Do I _trust_ you?" Piper looked gobsmacked. "You bring that crazy impostor into my house and you ask me if I _trust_ you?"

"_Piper_-" and the pleading note in Chris' voice somehow affected Piper, as she shut up. She still looked at the others warily, but she locked gazes with Chris and somehow something in his eyes seemed to reassure her. Chris stepped forwards tentatively, as if Piper were an anti-social animal, his palms held open in a gesture of supplication and open honesty. "Just take my hands."

"Whu-" Piper managed, but almost as if she was in a trance she took his hands. Chris knelt down in front of her.

"You're about to hear a spell," Chris told her, his voice rushed and almost strained. His eyes never left hers. "What you hear you will remember when Paige restores your memory. You must promise me now _not_ to tell anyone else. Ever. No one can know. No one."

Piper looked up to Paige, Dan and Paul, almost as if for reassurance, but her uncertainty about the whole situation swam onto her face. Eyes wide, but still trusting Chris, she nodded desperately. "I promise."

Chris turned his head back to Paige. "As soon as I lean back again, say the spell," he said. Paige didn't understand, but watched silently as Chris leant forwards. He whispered something in Piper's hearing, and then he leant back onto his heels, and Paige understood.

"Moments lost make this witch wonder, warlock's plot or demon's plunder? If this is not a prank, help my sister fill in the blanks," Paige recited quickly.

Piper jolted, and for a second Paige's stomach plunged to her feet when she thought that Piper _was_ going to go through the pain and then her fears were assuaged when Piper's face relaxed, her mouth falling open with an 'o' of realisation.

And then Paige realised what Chris had done. The six foot Whitelighter was curled up now against Piper's legs, holding her hands, but his face was twisting in acute agony. Sweat stood out on his forehead, and his limbs were twitching. Somehow, and Paige would _really_ love to know how, Chris had transferred the pain... to _himself_.

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**T-12

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	42. Chapter the Fortysecond

"_Someone's hiding something from me."

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**Neurotic

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**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

**Note:** Sorry, sorry, sorry. I sort of fell asleep and only just woke up. Don't ask how that happened: I don't even know! Also - nearly 1000 reviews? You guys absolutely make my day, you know that? Thank you for your support.

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**Chapter the Forty-second**

"**Spell"

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"Chris?"

Suddenly Piper's eyes were wide open and filled with a tangible fear as she looked down at him. Chris was no longer shaking, but he'd curled up into a ball on the carpet, his face pressed awkwardly into his arm.

"Nnnnggh?"

"He's okay," Paul said quickly. "That's Chris for - owwwwww, but I'm okay."

"'s'not," Chris mumbled, rolling over onto his back and letting his arms flop out as he stared up at the ceiling.

"All right, you're not okay," Paul said evenly, as if he was joking, but real worry shone in his eyes.

"It was a kicker for sure," Chris managed to say, pushing himself into a half-sitting position, and leaning against one of the chairs when his tired body protested. "But I was going to get hurt anyway."

"What do you mean?" Paige asked, concerned.

"Anything that happens to my past self happens to me," Chris said, but he might as well have just said "duh" for the tone he was using. "So it made sense to..." He gestured awkwardly. "Y'know."

"Yeah," Piper said, a little awkwardly. "We might have to have a little talk about how you did that. That was..." She searched for a word. "Really strange."

"Thanks," Chris deadpanned, pushing himself up, but he was so weak he only just about managed to push himself onto the chair. He pulled a face. "Okay, we're in a _crap_load of trouble."

"Language, mister," Piper said, almost automatically. Chris rolled his eyes.

"We are," Chris continued as if she hadn't interrupted, in a low and deadly earnest tone. "A _whole_ crapload. Wyatt's missing. I'm guessing Wyatt took him, which means he's safe."

"Wyatt-" Piper made a gurgling sound in the back of her throat, and she went pale. "I- I completely forgot about him! _Again_! What kind of a sucky, worthless mother am I? _Huh_? Wh-"

"You're a great mom," Chris and Paul managed to chime at the same time, and they exchanged a sheepish look and Chris smirked a little; it was obviously some kind of future catchphrase for the pair.

"Yeah, this whole _mom_ thing," Paige said, sliding across the room and sitting in one of the chairs, gesturing for Dan and Paul to come in and sit down too.

Chris winced visibly. "I'm sorry. I couldn't say anything. Future consequences."

"But you obviously_ did_ end up saying something," Paige accused him softly.

"Wyatt killed my mom," Chris said. "In front of us." His face clouded over but he didn't look away. Paige inhaled fast, awkwardly.

"Pippa..." Her tone was hushed. "I'd kind of forgotten she was even here..."

"I wish I had that luxury." Chris' face was tight, and then he shook himself a little. "Anyway, we don't have time for retrospective thinking. We have to- we have six _days_."

Piper looked at him wanly. "Until you're born, right?" A thought occured to her. "Uh, do you know how long I was in labor with you?"

Chris squinted at her a little. "Uh... a day? So we only have _five_ days. Oh, crap. Oh, crap. And Phoebe- we don't have Phoebe, she'll still be out of phase with the world and- and- We _still_ don't know who's going to turn Wyatt, well who won't turn Wyatt if we have any say in the matter, and- oh- Ohhh- So we have to find Phoebe, Wyatt, Wyatt and who turns Wyatt, and- GNUUUUUUUURRRRGGGGHHHFFFFFFFFFF!"

The rest of Chris' words were muffled by Paul moving over and clamping his hand firmly over Chris' mouth.

"GNURRRRFGGGH?"

"He's panicking," Paul informed them redundantly. "He babbles when he's panicking."

"Ghurrrrrthanks for that, Paul." Chris folded his arms and glared at Paul as his brother grinned at him.

"You're welcome."

"You're so frustrating, you know that?"

"And you can't even kill me," Paul said, a touch smugly, "'cuz I'm already dead."

"Two words: Darklighter."

"That's _one_ word."

"What_ever_."

"Waiiiit: he's already dead?" Paige blinked. "I really _did_ miss a lot." She twisted a look to Dan. "Are you sure we came back to the right reality?"

Dan, looking very much like he'd just decided to accept everything being flung at him regardless of how strange it was, shrugged. "How'm I supposed to know?"

"Right, no, right. Strategy. Need a strategy. Obviously the Map is really redundant," Chris said, and it sounded as if he was thinking outloud. "We need to concentrate on getting Phoebe back first. We need the Power of Threee. I reckon that if older Wyatt has his younger self, he'll be safe: Wyatt wouldn't hurt his younger self, 'cuz if he did he'd automatically hurt himself. Unless whoever makes him evil has him, which makes sense, 'cuz in our time Wyatt went missing for a couple of months, so maybe-" Apparently this was all the babbling Chris had left in him, for he looked up after a moment's silence, his eyes hard. "Paul, get me the Maps, some paper and a pen, will you?"

"Why me?"

"Paul!"

"Oh, all right." Sighing, Paul got to his feet and returned a moment later with a piece of paper and a pencil, and the two rolled-up pieces of paper. "Will this do?"

"Yep." Chris unrolled the Maps right there and then onto the floor, and started scribbling things down on the small piece of paper. He was so absorbed in his work, that he didn't seem to notice the others staring at him intently, until the pencil made a squeaking noise on the paper. "Guys, could you please stop staring? It's making me nervous."

"I'll go make some food," Paige said, realising how hungry she was.

"I'll help," Dan said quickly, rising with her, one hand unconsciously on her elbow. Piper saw it and raised an eyebrow, and looked slightly amused. She sniggered. He turned to look at her fully, and his pause made Paige turn too. Indecision briefly flickered across Paige's face as she suddenly realised the enormity of what had happened: she'd slept with one of Piper's _ex boyfriends_.

Piper decided to let Paige wriggle uncomfortably for a moment.

"We know about you two," Piper said, with a silly grin. "The book catalogued _everything_ you did."

Paige flushed, muttered something under her breath which involved the words _"perverted" _and _"hormonal_" and _"sister_", and with a very sheepish look walked off into the kitchen.

"You know the speech, don't you?" Piper said, looking up at Dan with an easy smile.

"Wha-"

"Hurt my sister and I'll blow your ass up?"

"I've never actually had _that_ speech," Dan said, then, almost awkwardly, "You're not mad? Or... awkward?"

"What happened between us... well, apart from the whole danger every day thing, I'm happy. I've got one great-albeit-missing baby, a polite almost-baby, and two of my sons loved me so much they came back to save the family at great risk to themselves," Piper said. "I think I may have even discovered the definition of deliriously happy."

Dan smiled. "Nice use of alliteration," he complimented, before nodding and moving off to the kitchen.

"Ah, so you saw the book then," Paul said, somewhat awkwardly.

"Yeah, before everything went weird..." Piper blushed a little. "You think after everything's done we should cast a tiny memory spell to forget it?"

"Good plan." Paul twisted to look at Chris, and peered over at the frantic scribbling Chris was doing. "Hey, you want me to call Grandpa, and get him to bring Cole over?"

"Yeah," Chris said, almost distractedly.

"Do you know where the cordless is?" Paul asked Piper.

"Uh, the kitchen or conservatory, possibly," Piper said. Paul nodded again and left the room, his head bowed down low.

"So you're going to tell me about-" Piper started. Chris looked up at her through his hair, and nodded once. He gestured with one hand and a silence barrier crackled into life around them.

He looked away from her for a good long while, his hand stilled, paused halfway through writing a word on the paper. "No one ever knew I could do it," he said, after that silence. He still didn't look at her. "You know when you watch TV or read a book, and you get so caught up that sometimes you run around and pretend to be one of the characters?"

"Yeah," Piper said, wondering where this was leading.

"I was a huge fan of... a certain show... A remake of an old quiz show. And... what I said... was a staple phrase of the show." Chris' ambiguity was now a little painful to Piper rather than confusing. That he felt the need to hide so _much_ was awful... "You can imagine my surprise when I said it for the first time and it actually worked."

"Maybe it's just because you view magic in a different way to everyone else," Piper offered. "When you're younger, you view the world differently."

"Yeah, 'cuz you're shorter." Chris grinned, and Piper grinned back.

"So... let me get this straight... Wyatt doesn't know you can do this?"

"No one ever knew," Chris admitted. "If Wyatt knew, he would have killed me- no question."

Piper shivered.

"I won't tell anyone," she promised, fervour in her voice. "Uh, do you think mini-you will get the same... gift?"

Chris shrugged. "No idea." His face was grey. "Guess we'll find out next week."

* * *

When Paul walked into the kitchen, Paige and Dan were already getting food from the fride and making an array of sandwiches. He watched them move together for a moment, and something inside him saddened at their graceful co-ordination. _I miss you so much, and you never even _knew_ how badly I missed you. Wasn't allowed to let you know how much I knew, how much I needed you... I _understood_ why you couldn't acknowledge me as your own in public, but maybe once in private wouldn't have been too much to ask for, right?_

He shook those thoughts away angrily, and walked like liquid over the floor to grab the phone. Paige smiled at him almost warily as he picked it up. _This must have been what Chris felt when he came back to the past; everyone we know and love mistrusting us! But Chris has always had this, and at least I was always loved, even if not by my real mom..._

He dialled the number, and watch Dan and Paige interract with a burgeoning jealousy he didn't know what to do with. He'd wanted to tell people his secret in the past, when Piper admitted it to him in hushed and strained tones, but never to this extent.

_You're mine, can't they see? You're my mom. You always were and I loved you the most, I always did!_

Feeling his face heat up, Paul fumbled with the handset in his hand, and shakily hit the number for his grandpa's, _but not my blood grandpa, _and was abruptly amused that Victor had the same telephone number in the future, too.

"Uh... hi... it's me... Paul!... Yeah. Look, can you get Cole and bring him over to the mansion a.s.a.p. I know you're working today, but..." Paul jumped in surprise when Cole's voice came onto the phone. "Cole? It's me. I need you and grandpa over here as quickly as possible... Oh, yeah, um, Victor's my grandpa... Long story... It just there's one thing you need to know: Phoebe's alive... I'll come fetch you, if you want... Sure."

Paul hit the disconnect, and emptied his mind, getting ready to orb, when he felt a small slither of cold creep down his spine. _Something's wrong_!

Paige and Dan whirled around at that thought, and Paul realised he'd yelled it out loud, but it was too late. A dark figure shimmered into the kitchen. Paul couldn't even shout, couldn't move, couldn't do anything.

The Darklighter lifted up his crossbow, smirked, and fired.

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**T-11

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	43. Chapter the Fortythird

"_And when it happens this where I wanna be. I love you."

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**Neurotic

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**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

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Updates won't be daily, but they'll be as fast as I can manage. Thanks for your patience. 

**Dedicated: **to Vera, Amanda, Alyssa and Sharon, whose kind words in this time of need have kept me going.

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**Chapter the Forty-Three**

"**Panic"

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As soon as they heard Paul yell, Chris dashed into the kitchen, just in time to see the arrow let loose from the Darklighter's crossbow. Unable to do anything in time, he watched almost in slow motion as the arrow smashed through the air towards his Aunt Paige. It was only Dan's quicker reflexes that saved her - for the umpteenth time since he'd returned into their lives, he pushed Paige out of the way, smashing them both to the ground.

It was only after his strangled cry that Chris realised Dan had been struck by the arrow.

Wasting no time, Chris angrily brought his hand up and smashed it through the air. The Darklighter flew backwards and thudded bodily into the fridge.

He twisted his hand, squeezing the Darklighter's throat telekinetically, and the Darklighter gasped, its fingers twitching uselessly until it dropped its crossbow. Chris wasted no time in storming over to it, and using his hands now to push the Darklighter into the dented refridgerator.

"Who sent you?"

The Darklighter narrowed his dark eyes, and spat into Chris' face.

Chris' mouth set into a line, and he pulled one hand back. The Darklighter undulated out of his grasp, but it was too late; Chris squeezed one hand in the air, imploding the Darklighter's heart, and fire engulfed him. The Darklighter's scream echoed in the kitchen, and Chris looked coolly down at the dark stain the vanquish had left on the floor.

"That's going to be _nasty_ to get out," Chris quipped, brushing his hands briskly, turning around to clinically survey the scene. A vein in Paul's neck was pulsing softly, but Paul was stood rooted to the spot, staring down at Dan bleeding on the floor as if there was nothing going on there at all. Paul was absolutely frozen to the spot.

Frowning, Chris edged a look to Piper, standing worriedly in the doorway, her hand over her bump protectively. "Did you freeze him?" Chris asked. Piper quickly shook her head, doe brown eyes flickering over the scene in worry.

Chris stilled, taking a slow breath, before moving over to grasp Paul by the shoulders. Paul moved his eyes to look at Chris, but it was a deadened expression. "I-" Paul started, before faltering. His gaze fell to the floor, and remained there, as if Chris' shoes were the most interesting items in the whole world.

Indecision wavered on Chris' face for barely a second before his eyes darkened determinedly. He raised his hand up like he had to smash the Darklighter across the room.

"Chris, what do you think you're doing?"

Chris ignored Piper's outburst, and delivered a solid sharp slap to Paul's face.

_CRACK!_

The noise sprang out like a gunshot, and it startled the room with about the same effect as a gunshot would have had.

Paul's eyes flew to his, his cheek instantly going red, but it had succeeded in knocked Paul out of his shock. "Oh--- Ohhh---" Paul drew in a great shuddering breath, and Chris put one hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"Dan needs your help," Chris told him a low, kind voice.

Still slightly trembling, Paul nodded and dropped to the floor next to Paul. He looked up at Chris, and a silent communication passed between the two boys.

"This is gonna hurt," Paul advised Dan, who managed a gruff noise of affirmation. Paige was gripping Dan's hand tightly, and her face was gaunt with worry and consternation.

Chris twitched his hand, and the arrow came out from Dan and embedded itself in the destroyed fridge. Dan spasmed, a small grunt of pain coming from his mouth, sweat standing out from his forehead, and a nerve pulsing in his neck. Chris felt a sudden floating sensation, as if something very profound had just occured, but he couldn't think what it could be, and before he could re-examine what he'd just thought, Paul had brought his hands to Dan and had healed him, and Dan was up and on his feet - bewildered, bothered but alive.

"We're going to need a new fridge," Piper said weakly.

"Um, or you need a new brain," Paul said, dodging nimbly away from the small reproving thump Chris was angling in his direction. Chris wondered at Paul's sudden chirpiness.

"What are you doing?" Chris demanded, folding his arms across his chest.

Paul levelled one of those looks at Chris that only a younger sibling can manage successfully, the "am I really related to you?" glare. He held his hands over the fridge, and 'healed' it.

"Oh." Chris' voice was small and sheepish. "Yeah."

Piper was staring at Paul with new eyes. "You mean we've been buying new furniture, and Leo could have just healed it for us?"

Paul smiled, although it was restrained. "Well, I'm not under employ of the Elders in this time, so I don't have to adhere to their rules." He wrung his hands slightly, and he couldn't even look at Dan as he tried to apologise, "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me... I just couldn't move."

"No worries," Dan said warmly, moving over and squeezing Paul's shoulder. Paul looked up at him with wide, startled, rabbit-caught-in-headlights eyes. "Besides, I think I might just have been struck with something." Dan grinned, all teeth, and Paige thumped him in the shoulder.

"Not funny," she ground out.

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Dan wouldn't tell them his idea until they'd all sat down in the conservatory, in a circle of the plastic chairs around a table and Paul had set up a silence barrier. Chris almost felt as if they were in a powwow circle. Dan seemed to be pleased with the idea he'd been hit with, and not at all resentful that he'd just been hit with an arrow. Then, that had always been what Chris had admired about him, 'back when'. Dan was fidgeting with his hair, pushing it out of his face as if he didn't know he was doing it, and Chris felt a surge of almost-relief. In Chris' past, and hopefully still part of this timeline's future, it usually meant that Dan had come up with something ingenius, although Dan would never apply that label. 

"The Darklighter meant to kill one of us," Dan said eventually, quite simply.

Chris stared; this wasn't the surge of genius he had expected. However, he waited, trusting in the fact that Dan had always been consistent. He wasn't going to dismiss him out of hand.

He knew, though, that one person in the powwow circle _would_ dismiss him, and he leant over and comfortingly touched Piper, just above her elbow. She looked at him curiously, and he shook his head slowly, '_don't._' She realised what he meant, and the sarcastic comment that would have probably slid out died unspoken on her lips.

"But instead, he's given me a new... idea... on who may turn Wyatt." Dan's voice was strong, and he looked across at Piper thoughtfully. Piper's face faltered to a paler shade of white.

"Who?" she asked Dan, her voice trembling, her hand gripping her arm so tightly in suspense that when she lifted it away there was a white indent of where her fingers had been.

"I don't know exactly who," Dan said, "but..."

"But what?" Paige asked, her eyes dark and piercingly trained on Dan's face.

"The Darklighter intended to kill, but he failed, and he gave me an idea. A good idea. Now it couldn't have been what the Darklighter intended at all, but it was a side effect of the attack." Dan's voice was even. "Same as what you've told me about Darryl Morris. You only intended to do good, but you inadvertently managed to turn him against you all. You didn't mean to, it's a side-effect."

"Oh, god." It hit Chris like a punch to the stomach, and he looked at Dan, his eyes wide and his heart thumping against his chest. "We've been looking for people who may intend to turn Wyatt evil, but what if turning him evil isn't what they want? What if his turning is just a side effect?"

"Exactly," Dan said, to Chris' surmisation of what Dan had figured out.

"But who would want to- to kill Wyatt?" Piper, in shock, stuttered out the question that completely baffled her.

"Er, apart from the entire Underworld?" Paige said, sarcasm lacing her voice but genuine worry on her face.

And then, the answer struck Chris as deftly and surely as a Darklighter's arrow finding its target. He turned to Paul, his face drained of all colour, and an expression of self-beration clearly on his face. "Paul, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think so Brain, but I don't think pink's your colour," Paul said with an air of quoting, absolutely confused.

"No!" Chris turned back to the circle, his face glowing with a hint of exultation. _The answer! Could this have been the answer all along?_ "When Wyatt struck the last of the Elders down... oh god, you weren't there Paul, it was just your clone... but... One of them said, he said, oh--"

"You know, I'm going to raise you to speak English in this timeline," Piper said furiously, determinedly.

Chris sent a withering look at her. "The Elder said that _we should have got rid of him when we had the chance._ I assumed that he meant- well, there was a time the Elder's could have killed him, but Leo managed to stop him- anyway..." He waved his hand dismissively. "What if they meant _now_ was the chance?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Piper said, dismissively. "The Elders would never kill Wyatt. Besides, Leo would have heard about it."

"Wouldn't they?" Paige leant forward on the edge of her seat, almost toppling off the fragile plastic chair until Dan quickly pushed down on the back to keep her safe. "How do we know it isn't a few of them, anyway. Elders have to have votes - we know this - so obviously not all of them agree. What if it's just a group of them, planning to kill him-"

"-and obviously they didn't suceed, because he was there, in our time," Paul said. "So what if the side-effect of the Elders trying to kill him, who are supposed to be on _our side_,

who are supposed to be the most _good_ beings we know... is him turning evil?"

"So I assume we're discounting Leo from our suspicions?" Piper said, slightly bewildered by what was going on, but feeling a small burn of acceptance slide through her. It made so much sense and it _shouldn't_.

"Yeap," Chris said, and he slid like liquid to his feet, danger playing on his face and in his poise. His hands were tensed, ready for action, and a mien of severe displeasure descended around him. "Paul, you have to be thinking what I'm thinking now."

"This time," Paul said, his voice low, "yes." He got to his feet too, flanking Chris by his shoulder.

"Chris, what's going on?" Piper pushed the chair back, lurching to her feet, confusion splayed on her face.

"Simple," Chris ground out, flexing one of his hands, "we're going after the one other Elder we know who would be in a good position to do this. One who for my whole life we've reckoned could never hurt a fly."

Paul nodded grimly, and Chris spoke the name with conviction as Paul dispelled the silence barrier, just before they orbed away together. "Gideon!"

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**T-10**


	44. Chapter the Fortyfourth

"_And when it happens this where I wanna be. I love you."

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**Neurotic

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**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

**Author's Notes: **Am NOT abandoning this. Am back to uni, and working, and I'm going to finish this thing even if it kills me in the process. Am so sorry for the delay betweeen chapters - as much as it annoys you, believe me - it annoys me even more. I haven't been able to write for four months, and it possibly HAS killed me. If so, then my ghost is staying on this planet until Neurotic is finished.

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**Chapter the Forty-Fourth**

"**Without You"

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**P3 wasn't normally as jam-packed as it was. **Piper felt stifled even before Ray dimpled a smile at her and swerved aside to let her pass. The dance floor was crammed with writhing, sweating bodies, in a rainbow spread of the latest fashions. The thrum of the beat of the music echoed through her. Her heart thumped in time with the music.

She hoped the baby wasn't affected. _It's Chris inside of you._ The thought, as always, made her feel a little bit weird. The person she'd seen walking around, fighting, using magic, talking back, swearing, orbing, and all manner of other things, was currently growing inside her. Her womb was incubating him.

She tried to imagine what Chris would look like as a baby, and couldn't. The very idea of small, perfect baby hands increasing and swelling into Chris' long, slender hands, piano-playing hands, disturbed her on a level she couldn't explain with words. She imagined if it happened, if a baby grew up fast, in accelerated time, that it would hurt. Bones popping into place, pushing up against newly expanded skin.

It would hurt. Piper could identify with the dull ache of growing pains, and she tried to imagine all those aches during growing up, when limbs reluctantly lengthened or gained inches during the night, all compressed into a few seconds...

She shivered, and threw those thoughts aside. She was looking for-

Piper paused, but was hit by a gyrating youngster in low-riding hipsters, exposing a smooth, taut stomach that she was briefly jealous of. She moved away as quickly as she could, weaving a way through the tightly packed dances, exubing the aura only the owner of such a club could.

Her hands fluttered to her belly, curving over it protectively, and her heart thrilled at the movement she felt beneath her fingertips. _Bomp, bomp, bomp._ His tiny heart was beating, strong. He was a fighter even from the very beginning.

She felt the smile curve onto her face even without meaning to smile. Stepping forwards, she was stopped by a wave of unmentionable pain.

Piper gasped, her vision of the undulating mass of bodies creaming into an indefinable blur of colours. Her hands left her belly, stretched out, searching, only to be knocked back by the mass of dancers.

Her whole world was, for a moment, narrowed down to that precise feeling of losing control. It perhaps hurt more than the deep feeling of unrest in her belly.

She forced herself in to inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Her eyes flittered closed for a moment, and she tried to calm. As she opened her eyes, the world swum more into focus. The dancers swirled around, like fireflies dancing in the night sky, moving to the music that her heart was still thumping along to. There was no one else to come here right now, and she knew the bar was to keep functioning if she was _ever_ to have the chance at a normal life.

Piper stepped forwards with renewed confidence in her work, but her legs felt wooden and heavy, almost as if moving them under water. She felt moisture on her shoulder, and touched her forehead. She was sweating.

She felt moisture on her legs, too, but ignored it. She stepped forwards into the throng of dancers, and suddenly the floor span away from her.

With a soft cry her feet fell from under her and she fell backwards. Piper was vaguely aware of arms supporting her fall, and a sea of faces swam before her.

"Is she okay?"

"Piper!"

"Her waters have broken..."

"Call 911!"

Those voices weren't her own... She reached out with her hand, vaguely aware that she was capable of damage, somehow, by doing that... All reason eluded her.

"Ni-"

Another voice said something, but pain swam over her like a fast, furious wave and she cried out, unable to understand it.

"Leo! Leo!" But it was absolutely no use. She knew it even as the words ripped from her lungs into the ether of the club.

"She's bleeding!" Another voice said, a voice which Piper refused to listen to for a moment. In fear she looked down.

Blood was flooding from her, a river of blood, soaking her clothes and puddling on the floor around her. Desperate her hands fluttered to her belly. She pressed down gently, searching, already knowing in her heart that she was too late.

"The baby?" She asked, not knowing whom she asked, just asking.

"Gone," a voice told her.

Piper opened her mouth and started to scream.

She stopped screaming when an arm reached down and insistently rocked her shoulder, in sharp jerking movements. Her eyes remained closed. She didn't want to see the physical proof that her baby had- that Chris was-

"Piper!"

Paige was there? It was probably Paige shaking her...

Piper opened her eyes. It was too bright for a moment, and she blinked furiously. Paige's face blurred and then became clear. Piper couldn't move, and she felt her eyes tear up. Her eyes and face felt hot, too hot. "The baby," she eventually got out, "I lost-" sob "-I lost the baby."

She cried like she'd never cried before, the tears scalding her throat, burning her vision, drowning her in a shame that she'd never felt before.

"Oh, honey," Paige said, her tone painfully reminding Piper of honey, and nothing sweet would ever make her feel right now, "you were asleep. It was just a dream."

Piper's mouth worked silently, silently. She thought she would never speak again. Paige would know no moment of rest if this was a joke. "A dream?" Her voice, broken, managed those stilted words.

"Yes," Paige said, soothing, looking over her shoulder. Her hair covered her face like a glossy brown curtain, and fear gripped Piper tightly again. She looked down. Her t-shirt was pulled tight over her belly, over the smoothness below. In wonder, her heart still beating fast, she touched her leg.

No moisture.

She looked around.

No blood.

"So Chris is all right?" Piper couldn't stop the relief from flooding through her voice, and realising in one swift and startling moment how deeply ingrained in her heart Chris had become. In a matter of weeks, she'd gone from deeply mistrusting him to being unable to imagine a life without him. She pictured his smile, and felt strengthened.

Paige turned her heart-shaped face back to Piper, her dark eyes scanning her sister's face. "As far as I know." Her expression turned grim. "As fine as he can be with that louse Gideon still on the loose."

"We still don't know it's him," Piper reminded her gently, still slightly dizzy by the realising that it had been a dream. Extremely vivid, though, and it _felt_ real, as evidenced by her still high heartrate. _But why would my dream have been so bad?_ She knew it was usual for mothers-to-be to dream of their baby's death in the womb or during birth. She'd experienced it with Wyatt. But that dream had been so much more visual and tactile. She could still smell her own blood, and that was probably what was keeping her on edge.

"Hmm," was all Paige said in response. She could probably feel Piper's distress, for her hand held onto Piper's. For once their skin tone almost matched. Piper's hands were still trembling from the aftermath. "They'll be fine," Paige told her. A quirky grin slid onto Paige's face. "Trust me."

* * *

"ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

At the sound of his younger brother screaming, Chris immediately stopped, tensing his entire body to swivel around. He wasn't given enough time. Something slammed into his back and his entire body lurched forward. He braced himself for the hard landing, and freaked out when he collided with something solid and warm.

He let out a small yell of his own, before hearing a chuckle. He looked up hesitantly to see eyes the same colour as his own, smiling at him.

Chris pulled out of Leo's grasp, and self-consciously smoothed down his clothing as he tried to assess the situation.

"Do you have to scream like that every time you run into someone?" Chris said, hearing the bite in his tone but hating his inability to pull it back. He softened the edge with a small apologetic smile.

"I wasn't!" Paul stepped hurriedly aside, mirroring Chris' movements unconsciously and smoothing his black t-shirt. "I just remembered Leo was still..." He faltered, gestured with his arms for a second before sighing in a huff. "Y'know."

"Leo's still _what_?" Leo prompted, looking confused and wary.

"_Oh_." Chris grinned. "You don't know we're your sons from the future."

"Your- sons- future- _what?_"

As Paul bent over laughing, Chris took pity on his father.

"Moments lost make this witch wonder, warlock's plot or demon's plunder? If this is not a prank, help this Elder fill in the blanks."

Leo stumbled back, and Chris winced, moving forwards to grab Leo's elbow and steady him. His burst of pain was shorter, and he shook his head a couple of times as if to clear it. Leo's eyes widened. "Paige, and Phoebe-- and Piper- and--"

"Ssh, it's okay, they're all right," Chris said quickly, still holding Leo's elbow, completely unaware of the tender expression on his face as he soothed his estranged father-to-be. "As far as we're aware. Phoebe's still missing, but we've figured out how. Paige is fine. But look, Leo, we know. We know who's going to turn Wyatt."

Leo's eyes flew to meet Chris'. "Who?" His voice was tense and with an edge that both Halliwell boys felt.

"You won't believe us," Paul said candidly, pushing back his hair with one hand, annoyed with it.

"Try me."

Chris and Paul exchanged a long look, and Chris flung his hand around carelessly. A silence barrier shimmered into place. "We figured out that no one's trying to turn Wyatt evil."

"_Huh_? But-"

"Shut up and listen, okay? We don't have much time." Chris locked gazes with Leo, trying to convey the urgency. "No one's actively trying to turn Wyatt evil. Wyatt turns evil from the side effect of the person planning to kill him."

"_Kill_-?"

Chris absently noted how flustered Leo got when he was completely surprised, and realised he must have gotten his calmness under extreme pressure from his mom. "But I don't really mean _person_. I mean Elder. It's an Elder."

Leo's mouth worked silently for a second. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse. "Any particular Elder?"

"You're not surprised?" Paul questioned, surprised himself.

"After this last minute, remembering everything... I think it'll be a while before anything surprises me. Which Elder." Leo's eyes went flint-hard.

Paul opened his mouth to reply, but stopped in surprise when Chris put one hand on his chest. Chris shook his head softly. "We can't tell you," Chris said, simply.

"What do you mean you can't tell me-" Leo started to demand.

"Because we need the element of surprise," Chris said simply. "The only way we'll be able to catch them off guard is with shock. You knowing it's an Elder, though, may help a little... Is there any way you can call all the Elders together? Tell them you have suspicions of a rogue faction of Elders planning to kill Wyatt. It'll give us the half hour we need to do what we have to."

Leo started to nod, then froze. "Is it-- Is it Gideon?"

Chris swallowed down the urge to nod, and casually said, "Why would you think that?"

"Just that you're at the school," Leo said nervously, his eyes skittering between the two.

"Oh, we came to find you," Paul said, airily. "Weren't expecting to find you so quickly, though."

"Right," Leo said softly, still looking worried. "I'll go. You two take care. I'll be keeping an eye on you, though."

Paul opened his mouth to protest, but Chris softly smacked him on the arm. "That'll be fine," Chris said quickly, a false reassuring smile fleeting across his face. He dispelled the barrier, and Leo orbed away.

"Quick," Chris said. "His office is this way." The softness that had surrounded Chris when encountering Leo immediately fell away, and a determination took hold instead. Paul tensed up automatically from the tension in Chris' body and on Chris' face.

They moved silently and swiftly through the halls, purpose in their driven movements.

"This way," Chris said.

"You sure?"

"All the times I got sent in for causing trouble? Sure I'm sure." Chris turned a corner, and then held up a hand as he stopped by a large oaken door. "_Sshh_."

"Wha-" Paul started, before earning himself a furious glare and shutting up.

Chris bent closer to the door, listening. There was a sound of soft murmuring, and then a muttered curse. Blue light sparkled under the door and then there was silence.

"He's gone. I'll go first," Chris said, pulling the handle and yanking the door open. Swiftly and surely he stepped around the corner, his hands curved, ready and outstretched to do some damage if necessary. "It's clear," he said.

Paul followed him in, before quietly shutting the door.

Chris absently set up a barrier around the walls of the room before heading towards the desk and starting to rifle through the contents. The barrier cast an eerie light over the room, and every footstep chilled Chris to the bone. A nervous energy egged him onwards. They were so _close_, but maybe they were even now too late...

He sruffled through some paperwork, sighing at the badly spelt homework, and detention cards, and assorted broken stationery. He slid the drawer closed softly. _Dnnk._

Startled, Chris lifted his head up. Confusion splayed childishly across his face, and Paul looked across, worried.

"Chris, what is it-"

"_Sshh_." Chris waved his hands around. Experimentally, he opened the drawer again and slid it shut. _Dnnk._

"What the hell are you on and where can I get some?" Paul said, hands akimbo as he stared at Chris.

"Must you always spout those tired cliches of yours?" Chris said tiredly, as he glanced around the room, a curious light in his eyes.

"What have you eureka'd yourself into now?"

Chris narrowed his eyes, and let that one slip. "There's an echo in this room," he said.

"It's a big room," Paul said, although now he looked slightly intrigued.

"Not big enough for this much of an echo," Chris said warily. "Stay still."

He started to step around the room, listening to the volume of his footsteps. As he approached the door, they started to get louder... Then quieter... Closing his eyes, he followed the sound of his own footsteps as he edged around the room. Letting his senses completely take over, Chris moved as if in a trance until his footsteps got really loud. Reaching out with his hands, he felt a soft material slide under his hands, and he yanked it away.

His eyes snapped open as he came face to face with eyes the same colour as his own.

Chris let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding, feeling deflated and a little bit silly.

"It's just a mirror," he said, disappointed.

"Just a mirror?" Paul repeated, his voice lilting up into a question. "I don't think so."

Confused, Chris turned back to his own reflection, before realising just what it was that Paul meant. The Chris in the mirror had long, dirty hair, and was staring right at him.

Chris turned back to Paul, lost, and turned back to the mirror.

"Oh, crap," Chris said, eloquently, vaguely registering the similar sentiment from behind the mirror.

* * *

**T-9**


	45. Chapter the Fortyfifth

**Neurotic

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

**Author's Notes: **Urgh, I lose at the Internet. I'm still fighting this battle, and I will finish this! grits teeth Honestly, thank you so much for all your lovely support, it's because of you that I'm fighting past the real world and getting through this. Thank you all so much.

* * *

**Chapter 45**

"Betrayal"

* * *

When Wyatt stopped pacing, Phoebe resisted the urge to laugh at him, not wanting to provoke him. Last time she'd provoked him, he'd disappeared off for a whole day, leaving his baby self frantic and without food, and when he came back – reluctantly with milk for his baby self because he didn't want his baby self dying of starvation – he smirked for a good hour.

"What's wrong?" Phoebe eventually asked, with Wyatt stilled at the window. Phoebe had thrilled with hope when seeing that window in the building she was imprisoned in, but it hadn't been an iota of help.

"My amnesia spell broke," Wyatt said. "Still, it served its purpose."

Phoebe could see Wyatt's reflection in the glass. He was brooding and didn't look too happy.

"And what purpose was that?" She asked, boldly. Normally he didn't answer her questions. She was getting quite used to the rhythms of her captivity, and she didn't want to appear too strongly to be attempting escape any more. That way, if she finally managed it, it might be enough to take him by surprise.

"Time," Wyatt said, turning to her, baring a surprisingly toothy smile at her. "Isn't that what life's all about? Time. Space. Power."

"I thought life was about family. Happiness. Love."

"So deluded," Wyatt said, softly, almost sadly.

"Yes, you are."

Wyatt laughed out loud. "I'd forgotten how delightfully witty you could be," he said.

"You see, that's what happens when you kill family members," Phoebe said.

"Oh, I never killed you," Wyatt said, in a sing-song voice that almost purred with delight.

"Right," Phoebe said. "You've cheered up."

"Yes, I have," Wyatt said, with a feline smile. "With your words of family… Blood relations… You've just reminded me how I can try and scry for the Book of Words."

Phoebe looked at him quizzically.

"Legend has it that is has a rather… sanguinitated… binding," Wyatt said.

Phoebe pulled a face, even as she bobbed baby Wyatt up and down on her knee. He was asleep. _Lucky him_. "Sanguinated… Blood?"

"The blood of the universe," Wyatt said, delighted. "And what's closer to the blood of the universe than the blood of someone Twice Blessed?" He pulled out a knife from a sheath on his leg, his dark eyes coldly watching her as he did, and Phoebe couldn't look away as he deliberately cut deep into his hand, and then spilled the blood onto a crystal he pulled from another pocket.

The blood dripped down the crystal, and he padded over to a large table with a map.

Phoebe held her breath as he suspended the crystal over the map. Words from just a couple of weeks before filtered through her thoughts, winding her. _A Map will show you the way_. Wyatt had been there too, during the reading. And she knew better than others, sometimes fortune telling could give two meanings – the one you think of right away, and the second meaning that you only realise in hindsight. _You look at the world through a narrow perspective, but you will understand._

And to Piper: _…your son_, _you three will hurt him, quite deliberately. You will mean him harm and you will deal him harm_.

Maybe it didn't just mean Chris. Maybe it meant Wyatt too, and Paul. Or any of them.

She wished suddenly that the crystal in Wyatt's hand wouldn't move, but it did, and he smiled at her as it started to circle around the map.

Phoebe narrowed her eyes at it, and furiously meant him harm.

* * *

"I told you he didn't say he'd orb us here." Cole's voice was petulant as they walked up the street, past all the fancy cars and gleaming sidewalks.

"I'm sure he did," Victor said, frowning, his hands in his pockets. "And I still don't think we should have left my apartment – if he does orb in, we won't be there."

"Whitelighters don't just orb to places, they can orb to people," Cole said, "and Paul knows both of us."

"I guess being blood related to him helps," Victor said.

Cole responded with an uncommitted grunt, unable to tell Victor the truth – that Paul was not blood related to him in the slightest. "He probably just forgot," he said instead, looking up the long street. "Besides, the further we are from that monstrosity in your apartment that you call your couch, the better."

"Hey, leave Lumpy alone," Victor said. "He's an important piece of furniture."

Cole raised his eyebrows.

"When Chris told me his secret, he revealed I was an awesome grandpa, and he liked Lumpy," Victor explained.

"I always knew Chris was a bit of a nutcase," Cole said. "He actually said he liked Lumpy?"

"Yes," Victor said quickly, "he said he and Lumpy go way back-- Well, maybe he didn't use the verb like, but he implied it."

"Hm," Cole said, turning the corner up to the Halliwell mansion, worried at how quiet is seemed.

"I don't know what you're implying with that _hm_ but I don't like it," Victor said.

Cole rolled his eyes and pressed the doorbell. Victor had been in that mood since they'd put the phone down, and then a blast of pain had hit both of them, and then they remembered just why they were there in Victor's apartment.

Things had started to make a whole lot of sense after that. Cole had thought it was weird that they were just hanging out, but hadn't been able to put a finger on why he was actually there until the spell – for it had to have been a spell – wore off.

Unfortunately, the confusion was then replaced by a brief clash of despair, and then a warm rush of hope as he did remember Paul's words. _Phoebe's alive_. Cole could live on those words, he could breathe them in forever, he could fly with them. _She's alive!_ Remembering Paul's words struck a memory in him, and he did remember that Paul had said he'd come and get them.

_Damn_.

It meant Victor was right. But he wasn't going to admit it to his infuriating ex-father-in-law any time soon.

Besides, there were worse connotations to the fact that Paul had said he'd collect them. Because he hadn't. And no one was answering the door-

There was a shadow of movement, and then the door clicked open. Piper stood there, breathing hard, heavily pregnant and heavily worried. "Come in," she said. "I'm sorry Paul didn't come to get you. But there's been a development."

She didn't say any more for a while, as Victor insisted on fussing over her, getting her sat down before she explained.

"What development?" Cole asked as soon as Victor had plumped one last cushion behind Piper's head.

"Right," Piper said. She pulled a wry face. "This might take a few minutes."

"We have a few minutes," Cole said, impatient.

"Dan figured out who's going to turn Wyatt," she said, and told them.

Cole stared.

* * *

There was a lot of staring going on in Gideon's office.

Chris stared at his double in the mirror in consternation, a million thoughts flooding through his head about the implication of such a magical construction, and the implication of magical theory and psychology- but the thought that stood out most clearly in his head was mostly irrelevant. And was about his hair. Long. _Eww_. He shook his head to dispel that thought, knowing he needed to be thinking logically right now, and then shivered as he noticed his double mimic his actions exactly. At the same time.

"This is _weird,"_ he breathed, startled at his double's echo.

"More than weird," Paul and mirror!Paul said.

All four of them shivered.

Chris opened his mouth to speak, then saw his mirror double was doing the same, so shut his.

"I guess you're good then," mirror!Chris said, disdainfully. "Stands to reason you'd shut up for the greater good of the situation." His voice was thick with mocking. "Guess I'll get to the point. You hair, by the way, is horrid."

"_My_ hair? _Your_ hair?" Chris automatically said, pulling a face.

"Gideon," mirror!Chris said, ignoring him, sneering. "I'm guessing the Gideon's of both of our worlds have been communicating through mirror to kill Wyatt."

Chris nodded, agreeing.

"So we need to cut off their communication point, and then cut off… well, anything of him, really," mirror!Paul said, laughing.

Chris looked over at Paul, who was fidgeting, and looked a little pale.

"You can't be specific when it comes to violence, can you?" mirror!Chris said to mirror!Paul. "No wonder you were able to masquerade as good for so long."

Mirror!Paul stuck his tongue out at mirror!Chris. "Stick it back in or lose it," mirror!Chris warned.

"A_hem_," Chris coughed loudly, getting their two evil doubles to look back at him. "My turn to speak." Mirror!Chris rolled his eyes, but kept his mouth shut to let Chris speak. "If we both turn our power on this mirror, it should destroy it. I know it's the proof we need to prove that, uh, our Gideon is evil, and yours good, but if anyone should pass through onto the other side-"

"-the Evil and Good balance would tip, and who knows what would happen," mirror!Chris finished for him.

"Ooh, that could be fun to try, though," Paul and mirror!Paul said, their brows furrowing as they both contemplated it.

"Not in a million years," Chris and mirror!Chris snapped at the same time, before looking at each other and laughing.

"As messed up as this is, we need to do this," mirror!Chris broke in quickly before Chris could.

"Agreed," Chris said.

Mirror!Chris nodded up at him, and they both raised their palms up. Chris thought suddenly that it was a horrid shame this piece of magic had to be destroyed, as it would be weird to see what their world would be like with good and evil reversed, but they couldn't risk it. Like his mirror self said, if someone went through it, even accidentally, the entire universe would be altered, probably permanently. With regret, he told Paul to step back, and saw mirror!Paul step back so knew Paul was stepping back too, and he flicked his wrist.

A chair flew through the air and slammed into the mirror, shattering it.

The shards of the mirror fell to the floor in a pile, sparked once, and then were dull. The broken pieces weren't even reflective any more- the spell had completely broken.

"That was weird," Paul breathed. "Bizarro world."

Chris tried to cover up that he was just as weirded out by saying dismissively, "You and your comics."

"This is it, then," Paul said. "That magic's illegal, been banned for centuries. Gideon's our target."

"It appears so," Chris said heavily, suddenly sinking down into a large, intricately carved wooden chair. "I can't believe it, though." He looked up at Paul. "It's hard to marry the horridness of the future with Gideon. He was supposed to be our friend." His eyes dropped to the floor. "And he was the one that tried to-" He choked on the words. "Tried to kill Wyatt. And turned him instead. And made out future a living nightmare."

Overwhelmed, Chris shook his head, and then stilled, almost lifeless.

Paul dropped to his knees beside his brother, and put his hands on Chris' arm. "That's what we're here. To stop that living nightmare." Their eyes met, and Chris nodded slowly.

"All this time, and we could have stopped him," Chris said slowly, his tone lighter.

Paul nodded. "Yeah. Go figure. All this time, and we could have solved it in five minutes if we'd known," he said. Chris felt that stab in him, somewhere down low, somewhere that was still horribly grieving for their mom, a place that was weirdly strangled by Piper's presence in this time. "But Gideon will pay for this evil," Paul said.

"You promise?" Chris said.

Paul was about to, but that's when the chair Chris was sitting on let out a small cracking sound. They only had time to look at each other in confusion, and then the floor disappeared beneath them, and they fell into a deep black nothingness.

* * *

Wyatt was still smiling. The crystal was spinning, getting near some target that Phoebe strained to try and see but couldn't.

The crystal was edging closer to some spot on the map, and Phoebe wished and wished something would happen to Wyatt to stop him, to stop this. She didn't know what would happen if Wyatt found the Book of Words, and she didn't want to know. It couldn't be good, especially with that malevolent smile still playing on his face.

_Please, oh please, oh please_, Phoebe prayed, desperately. And something must have heard her.

The crystal spun faster for a second and then flew out of Wyatt's hand, impacting against the wall and shattering into a million pieces.

He turned with a desperate howl, running to the shattered crystal in disbelief, picking through the shards, hoping the answer was still in them.

"But that's impossible," Wyatt said, his head tilting slowly. "The Book of Words can't just disappear from the universe, it _is_ the universe! It-" He froze, his head flying backwards. "Unless- _No_. It _can't _be."

"What?" Phoebe demanded, getting to her feet, her hands gripping the bars of her prison. "What can't be?"

Whatever had struck Wyatt to make him go into this semi-trance obviously inhibited his normal reticence in explaining things like this to her. "It disappeared from the universe. Chris and Paul disappeared from the universe, I felt them, in my head, just gone," he said.

Phoebe's stomach abruptly fell, and her knees weakened alongside it, and she had to grip harder to the bars to stay upright. "What do you mean they've disappeared?" she demanded. "Are they dead?"

"They've gone beyond dead," Wyatt said. "They're alive. That's not the point."

Even though it seemed like the point to Phoebe, she let him continue, letting him talk, hoping she could use it later when she was free from this place.

"What is the point?" Phoebe said lightly, not wanting to disrupt him from this talkative mode he was in.

"It's too big a coincidence," Wyatt said, "the Book of Words disappearing at the same time as Chris and Paul?" He shook his head. "No wonder Chris has always been so resourceful!" He clapped delightfully, lowered his head, and stared at Phoebe. "Don't you understand what this means?"

Phoebe could only shake her head.

"Chris has the Book of Words," Wyatt said. "He had it all along. And all I have to do is find it, and take it from him…" He grinned, all fury and power and a force of destruction. "And then it's mine."

* * *

**T - 8**


	46. Chapter the Fortysixth

**Neurotic

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

**This chapter is dedicated to: **Stony Angel, Mellaithwen and Teal-Lover. :)

* * *

**Chapter the Forty-Sixth**

"Accident"

* * *

They were falling.

Paul felt his lungs constrict painfully, but couldn't see anything, could only feel a crushing pain against his chest. He could feel his eyes were open, but the darkness was pushing against his eyes too. He tried to Orb, but couldn't, and fear clawed at him – the Void. They were in the Void.

He kicked out, but there wasn't anything to kick out against, and then a sudden flare of light almost blinded him. He closed his eyes against the flare of blue light, and then slowly opened them.

Somehow, Chris had managed to put up a silence barrier around himself. Paul twitched his hand, but couldn't manage it, so he stared at Chris as they continued to fall hard. Paul gestured at Chris, but Chris had shut his eyes, and was mumbling something under his breath, and then the pain, the crushing, felt so _intense_ and then-

_WHAM!_

It felt like the floor had dropped beneath Paul, although he knew there'd been nothing underneath him, but that's the only way he could explain the sensation just before there was a floor beneath him.

"_Ow_!" Paul rubbed his bottom as he blindly clambered to his feet, light bursting through his closed eyes, red and pink and dazzling. He blinked rapidly, trying to get used to the presence of light after such extreme darkness, and a room swam slowly into focus in front of him.

Then a shadow of a figure moved in front of him.

Bewildered and frightened, Paul immediately lashed out to smack the figure, only for his arm to be gripped by something firm, and for a familiar chuckle to fill the room.

"You're such an idiot," Chris said, his voice tinged with a warmth Paul hadn't heard for a while.

"Am not," Paul said through clenched teeth, automatically. He blinked for a few moments more until the room became clear and he could see Chris' concerned face.

"Are you okay?" Chris said.

"Yeah," Paul said. "What was that? And how did you get us back?"

Chris inclined his head, and Paul looked to where his cousin was pointing. There was a large charred area on the floor. Paul recognised that they were back in Gideon's office, and the charred patch was where the chair had just been.

"I think," Chris said, his sea-like eyes flicking around the room quickly, with the grace of a soldier trained to look for danger, "that Gideon had locked the chair with a Void Extraction charm. I suppose anyone who used his name and the word 'evil' in the same sentence would be immediately transported to the Void."

Paul looked at Chris, upset, noticing Chris had avoided his second question. "So it was me that triggered it?"

"Isn't it always?" Chris said with a small grin. Paul sent a withering glance at him. "You weren't to know," Chris added quickly. "But it makes sense that he'd be able to do that. Transportation to other planes must be his magical niche. He must have been the one to get rid of Phoebe."

"You don't think Wy could have done it?" Paul said, folding his arms and looking nervously around the room, as if another object could be triggered by his words.

"Wy?" Chris smirked. "Why?"

"Why not," Paul said in return.

"But why?"

They laughed together for a second, and Paul watched Chris laughing, and wished suddenly, painfully, that none of this had happened. Seeing Chris so carefree, if only for a second, with the aid of an old joke the two used to share, really highlighted how _old_ Chris had gotten in the last eight years. He'd had to grow up so fast…

"Wyatt was always better at getting people out of phase than in them," Chris said. "I suppose it's because that's what mom and dad made him practise the most – demons were always throwing the Charmed ones out of phase. We hardly ever needed to lock something away on a different plane."

"Except for Grandpa," Paul said.

Chris looked at Paul, a little shiftily. "Uh, we don't need to be telling him that in this time, though, do we?"

Paul snorted. "Why tell, when you can show?"

"Paul!"

Paul rolled his eyes. "Fine. I promise not to do anything of the sort." He stepped closer to Chris, putting a hand on Chris' elbow, looking him directly in the eyes. "I wouldn't. He meant a lot to me too, you know." _Even though he wasn't technically _my_ Grandfather._

Chris nodded, and then looked around the room again. "I don't think there's anything else in here that's spelled to take us to disaster," he said, "but I think we ought to get back to the manor and tell the family it's definitely him. Let's do it outside in case of any overlap charms designed to keep Whitelighters out."

Paul nodded in return; unconsciously shifting to mimic Chris' tense, alert poise as they walked out of the room. Never was Chris more graceful, or dangerous, than when on the hunt for something, and Paul knew from Chris' face that the hunt was definitely on.

* * *

"It seems so _weird_."

Paige looked up from the small cauldron, bubbling away under the heat of an old Bunsen burner they'd scavenged a few months ago from the local high school, and watched Dan as he sorted through all the potion ingredients, grouping them together based on Paige's handwritten lists. She'd gone through the Map and taken out all the remaining potions that needed to be made, and added some more of her favourite All-Purpose potions, and was making them all in the order Chris had formulated – the most efficient timing.

Paige had never considered how many Potions could be made all at once, if you did bits one after another, but had slightly quailed at the number of Potions she had on the go. Several burners were set up, and they were using every saucepan in the house – saucepans they obviously still had way in the future, as Chris had labelled each potion with each contained to be used.

Still with the amazingly efficient timings, though, she'd been at this for three hours, and was slightly sweating, which she hated. Perspiration made her feel wrong and dirty, and she longed for a shower, but knew she had to crack on with this. Time was of the essence.

"Paige?"

Paige blinked, and she shook her head, realising Dan had said something. "What's weird?"

"These ingredients," Dan said. "The first batch of potions had weird things, like those Chinese roots, but these are just… everyday household stuff. I mean, you could be baking cookies, and _bam_, accidentally have whipped up a vanquishing potion for-" he squinted at the paper on the table "-Ashmolean Zombies." He pulled a face at the name.

Paige nodded, and started to stir one of the potions in a flowery saucepan that had just started to bubble. "Yep. How do you think some of those herbs and spices got to be everyday household stuff? Your common, garden-variety house-witch would have them in stock. A lot of witches through the past were herbalists, who incorporated a little bit of magic into just a lot of common sense and knowledge of plants. The knowledge of plants, herbs and spices were usually passed down from generation to generation. Even if the magic wasn't passed down, the knowledge of herbs and spices was."

"And people would go to their witches for remedies for hurts," Dan said.

"Yeah, and take that knowledge, and pass it down to their children." She smiled down at the surface full of potions. "There's a little bit of magic in every household, if they only knew. My adoptive parents, for example, whenever I'd scrape my knee, my mom would put a bread poultice on it, and clear it right up. Part magical remedy, part household commonsense."

"It's still amazing. If only everyone had this knowledge, everybody could be able to make vanquishing potions. Help you in your struggle."

"Not really," Paige said. "We're fighting so that people don't have to know this danger exists. Some people just can't _take_ the knowledge of demons; they just can't handle that world. And yes, they could technically mix together the lamb's blood and rosemary, or ginseng and lavender, but there has to be the _intent_. You have to _want_ something specific to happen with your potion. And the universe has to _need_ that something to happen, or it won't let the potion work."

"I couldn't handle this world." Dan's eyes were dark and he looked down, concentrating on pulverising some garlic bulbs with a pestle and mortar. "When Piper told me, I couldn't take it. I wished she'd never told me. And that feeling- I never want to feel like that coward again." He bashed at the garlic harder. "I won't."

Paige watched him sympathetically, his body tense, eyes dark, and she understood.

"Everything you've done since I've met you hasn't had a single hint of cowardice," she said. "Which is ridiculous."

His head flew up, and he looked hurt. "Ridi-"

"Nobody can be brave all the time," Paige said. "It's impossible. That's why it's the Power of Three. Sure, one of us could have been given all of the power, the responsibility. I'm sure of it. But I couldn't do it on my own – I need my sisters to lean on. Sometimes I'm brave for them, sure, but sometimes they're so brave for me, and I need that. We all need someone for support, and someone to support. Especially in our world."

Dan looked at her. "You always know the right thing to say, don't you?"

Paige winked. "Always. It's such a curse."

He rolled his eyes, and opened his mouth to say something when the door sprung open. Paul stood there, his eyes flickering nervously between the two of them.

"Paul," Paige greeted. "What's-"

A loud screeching whistle interrupted her, and she looked down at the source of the sound in confusion, but she wasn't fast enough to be able to move out of the way as one of the pans exploded, covering her in potion.

She let out a yell and fell backwards to the ground, clawing at her face, shrieking.

"PAIGE!" Paul and Dan ran forwards at the same time, ignoring the fact that they'd both shouted her name at the same time.

"It hurts," Paige managed, and Dan supported Paige's head as Paul put his hands over her, a small glow spluttering out of his hands. He moved his hands over her chest and head, where the potion had hit, and seconds later she was able to stop making a sound.

She pulled her hands away from her face. She felt horribly weak, and very dizzy.

"What was it?" Paul demanded. "Which potion exploded?"

He got up on his feet to go over to the table, and turned the gas off at the same time.

"The one in the green saucepan," Paige said. "It was the, uh-" She gasped and held her stomach, feeling sick. She gagged, but managed to stop herself from throwing up.

"What the hell is going on?" Chris demanded from the doorway. Paige could just about see him from the floor. He looked angry, until he saw her down, and then concern flooded his face. "What happened?"

"The green saucepan exploded," Paul said, urgently.

"The green saucepan," Chris echoed, his eyes travelling across the table, his brow furrowed. He turned to Paige, anger back on his face. "Why were you doing so many? The Map said a maximum of seven at once. You've got ten here."

Paige flinched from the anger in his voice, and tried to answer, wrestling the words out even as she felt more nauseous. "Thought I could handle a couple more," she said weakly, coughing, leaning into Dan as he held her, his eyes trained on her face with worry. "They were easy ones, I thought-"

"You thought wrong," Chris said, his voice harsh.

"Leave her alone!" Dan immediately defended, his voice strong. "She's trying her best, it was _your_ potions and organisation, and your urgency! We probably won't even need this potions if I'm right, yet she felt she had to, just because _you_ were so neurotic and thought it couldn't _hurt_. And it _has_."

Chris visibly sagged, and looked away, suddenly looking so defeated that Paige's heart leapt. "It was my fault," she said quickly. "I tried too much." She turned to Dan. "You said I was attempting too much. I should have-" She jerked spasmodically in Dan's arms, wincing from the pain and nausea. "I should have listened to you."

"What's wrong with her?" Dan demanded, looking up at Chris with hard eyes.

"Disintegration potion," Chris said, his eyes travelling over the table again with worry.

"Dis_integration_?" Dan's grip on Paige got harder as his voice rose angrily. "She's going to be disintegrated?"

Chris shook his head and looked at Paige instead, ignoring Dan. "How long had it been boiling?"

Paige thought, fighting past the feeling inside her, which made it feel like all her organs were compacting inwards. "Uh… ten minutes?"

Chris exhaled suddenly, and looked up at the ceiling. "_Thank_ you," he breathed upwards, to no one in particular. He looked down at her, then looked at Dan. "Get her onto the couch," he said briskly, moving quickly to the ingredients table and grabbing two large bottles of mineral water.

Paige gasped as Dan bodily lifted her up, seemingly without any trouble, and laid her down gently on one of the soft couches. He knelt down beside her, his hand on her forehead, his eyes dark. "You're soaked with sweat," he whispered, and she whimpered, not wanting to hear anything like that.

Dan turned back to Chris as the young witch-whitelighter skittered across the room to them with the water.

"Get her to drink this," Chris said. "All of it. Paul-" He twisted his head. "Go downstairs. Find any and all water containers, jars, flasks, bottles – you name it. Fill them with water and bring it upstairs as fast as you can."

Paul nodded and orbed downstairs without comment.

Chris fumbled with the water briefly, then opened it, and passed the bottle to Dan. "She needs to drink this, and all of these, and fast." He looked at Paige directly. She looked back at him, her vision blurring, her eyes wide. "Don't be afraid if you need the toilet," Chris said, "just go where you are. I need you to do this, stay here, and drink anything and everything you're given."

Paige nodded, her insides burning, and started to drink the water Dan immediately put to her lips, her eyes burning too.

"Whatever Paul brings upstairs, make her drink," Chris said. He lifted up Paige's hands, and Dan looked at them briefly as he helped Paige drink the water. Her fingernails were all a centimetre longer than they had been. "She's completely dehydrated. The potion wasn't ready – it's aged her. Only by a month, considering the amount of fingernail growth, but that still means she's sixty litres of water down. The potion wasn't ready, so it'll take a while to take complete effect, but we need to get sixty litres of water into her, as quickly as possible."

Paul orbed into the attic, right next to the sofa, with a large eight pack of mineral water. "I'm getting it from P3," he said, and orbed off without response.

"What about food?" Dan said.

"I'll deal with that," Chris said, getting to his feet. "You keep getting water into her. Because if you don't," his eyes were harsh, "she'll die."

Dan nodded.

"And if she dies," another voice floated in, "it'd be such a great pity."

Chris turned on his heel, and stepped backwards automatically in horror.

Wyatt was leaning against the wall, his arms folded, his trademark sneer fully in place. He looked at Chris. "But I won't interfere, if you give me the Book of Words, right now."

Chris stared flatly back at him, hatred full on his face. "I can't," he said, his voice heavy and angry.

"Yes," Wyatt said smoothly, "you can. I was tracking it. You disappeared off this plane at the same time it disappeared, and vice versa. You have it, I know it. So give it to me, and Paige might just survive this."

* * *

**T - 7**


	47. Chapter the Fortyseventh

**Neurotic **

**

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**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

**Dedicated to:** TriGemini and Sparkling Cherries, for the lovely in-depth reviews, make me feel the little details I put in are appreciated. :)

**Thanks: **to everyone else who has reviewed. And to everyone who's got this far in the story and hasn't given up. Thanks!

* * *

**Chapter the Forty-Seven**

"I was feeling like a demon again"

* * *

Chris edged a look at Paige on the couch, and hated his brother with so much fervour that he felt sick. She was shuddering. If she didn't get enough food for a month, and soon, then she would die. And it would be all his fault.

_But if Wyatt gets hold of the Book of Words…_

"I don't have it," Chris said, his voice loud, and ringing with much more confidence than he felt.

Wyatt's face didn't change, didn't move at all. Chris swallowed, and tried to face down his brother with as much confidence and strength as he could muster.

"I don't believe you," Wyatt said, his voice cool.

"Not believing me won't get you the book," Chris said, his eyes darkening. "I can't give you the book. I don't have it."

Wyatt smiled then, his eyes ice-cold. "And I said, I don't believe you."

"Then I guess this is a stalemate," Chris said.

"I guess so."

"I can't believe you're smiling when you outlawed it," Chris said lightly, trying to look around without being too obvious, checking to see what Paige had managed before her accident.

"Hypocrisy is fun, you should try it."

"Hm," Chris said, pretending to think about it. "How about no?"

"How about Paige dies if you don't _give me the book_."

"I _can't_."

"How about I give you the book?"

That was another voice, one unexpected by either brother, and it caught them both off guard. Wyatt turned to see his mother standing there, heavily pregnant but with a very large volume in her hands, one of the books Pippa had used to stack up for a footrest for Piper before. Before Wyatt could twitch, she threw the book at him.

He caught it easily, his eyes narrowing in rage, but it was just the amount of time Chris needed.

Without thinking, without planning it, Chris put his hand out, with every intention of using his powers to throw some of the potions at him, but something else whistled through the air into his hand. Chris looked at it blankly for a second. _Excalibur_.

Wyatt recognised it at the same time Chris did, for he narrowed his eyes even further, and gestured at the sword, but it held firm in Chris' gasp. Wyatt's eyes opened, and Chris forgot to think, he just focussed his powers directly on the sword, and it slid out of his hand. He thought for a moment he'd lost it to Wyatt, until it flew solidly through the air and impacted through Wyatt's shoulder with a crunch.

Wyatt let out a grunt of pain, and bodily yanked Excalibur out of his hand, and Chris extended his hand again. Excalibur whistled back to him, and Chris took it, holding it towards Wyatt as menacingly as possible.

"I. Don't. Have. The. Book," Chris said, his voice low.

"Very well." Wyatt's eyes flashed. "If you won't give it to me, I'll have to take it by force."

He scowled, and shimmered away.

It was like the entire room breathed a sigh of relief.

Piper waddled forwards, her eyes worriedly dropping between Chris and Paige, so worried that she didn't flinch when Paul orbed in with a crate of water.

"What happened?" Paul demanded, at the same time as Piper. The two shared a look, glanced at Paige, then at Chris, holding Excalibur.

"Uh," Chris said, a little dazed, looking at the edge of the sword, staring at the blood that dropped from it to the floor beneath. "I, uh- Paige got hit by an aging potion, so she's a month older. We need to re-hydrate her, and I need to get her food. And Wyatt came, but I-" Chris twitched the sword a little. "Yeah." He stared at the sword, a worried expression on his face.

Piper was torn between her son and Paige, but put her arm on his elbow. "What's wrong?"

"I can't kill him." Chris said, his voice soft, his eyes liquid. "I mean, I've wanted to, for ages, but all the venom I could muster only…" He looked down at the blood, shaking his head. "I guess I knew I wasn't capable of it, all the times I could have just erased Wyatt by killing his previous self, but…" He looked up at Piper, his eyes hard. "Sorry. I've got to get some food into Paige, fast."

He brushed past Piper, his hand whistling out, letting Excalibur slide from his hand and back into the stone, and he stormed down the stairs, knowing they were watching him go, and not caring.

* * *

"YENENE!"

Wyatt's voice was rough, like sandpaper, and he clutched onto his shoulder hard.

There was no response.

He staggered further into the cave. "NENE!"

A wizened old face peered out of the shadows, and clucked discontentedly at him. "What's all the fuss about? No need to shout, I'm right here." She bustled out from the crag, and shuffled over to one of her tables, plucking off a vial of potion. "Here." She tossed it to him.

He caught it with his good hand, and poured it on his wound. His shoulder smoked, and he yelped in pain, but when the smoke dissipated, his shoulder was fixed, no wound, only the blood and ripped shirt evidence of the injury Chris had given him.

"What happened?" Yenene asked.

"My worthless brother," Wyatt said, snarling. "I need you to make me a Calling."

"No."

Wyatt's head snapped up, and he stared at her. "No?"

"No," Yenene said, firmly. "You promised if I did what you asked, then you would return me to my mortal self, unchanged." She wandered back over to the tables. "And you haven't. I haven't even seen any evidence that you even can."

"I know who you are," Wyatt said, his voice low. "Would I be able to turn you back if I didn't?"

Yenene turned. "Knowing my name won't be enough," she said. "You need other things, and I just don't believe you have them."

Wyatt snarled. "I'm your only hope. You've been promised a thousand times by a thousand different people that they could do this. And none of them have delivered. Not even the Seer, and she had access to the Source. I'm the only one with the power you seek. I'm the one who can turn you back to your mortal self."

"Your words are pretty, but I'm old, Mr. Halliwell. I've seen a thousand years in this body, and seen countless depravities, and even more deceptions. I'm tired of it," Yenene said. She sagged, her fatigue obvious.

"Make me a Calling," Wyatt said, his teeth gritted together.

"No."

"No?" Wyatt shrugged. "Oh well. Guess I'll be seeing you around then, Miss. Gordon." He turned to leave, smirking at her sudden intake of breath.

"What did you call me?" Yenene demanded.

"Miss. Gordon," Wyatt repeated.

"How did you-" And Yenene looked so fragile, that beneath that frail body, in her eyes, her expressive dark eyes, she looked so young, like the person still trapped within her was.

"Your name," Wyatt said. "Yenene. A Miwok Indian name, if I recall correctly. Meaning literally 'wizard poisoning a sleeping person'. I presumed at first you had chosen it as just a good name for a mortal in your… situation… but it's quite simply a derivation of 'Jenny', isn't it."

Yenene looked at him, then looked away, flushed.

"I will change you back," Wyatt said, "and I won't tell anyone your dirty secrets. Imagine how you'd be treated if they found out you'd been serving evil for the last thousand years."

"I had to!" Yenene said forcefully, angry. "It was only last month I broke out of it, and then you-" She looked at him, disgusted.

"What's one more terrible act?" Wyatt said smoothly. He was good at persuading people to his own way of things, and he could visibly see Yenene cracking.

Yenene tilted her head upwards. "And how will I know you'll turn me back after I've done the Calling for you?"

"Because your uncle, Dan Gordon, is involved with my aunt Paige," Wyatt said. "I'm telling you this on trust. Now you know where to find him, you could even turn yourself back. But in return for this information, if you don't do the Calling for me, I will kill him. And your mom, and your dad, and anyone else in the world you even cracked a smile at."

Yenene stilled, shivered, and then nodded. "All right. I'll do the Calling, but you turn me back." She looked at him hard. "Immediately."

"Then it's a deal, Jenny Gordon." Wyatt nodded and smiled.

Yenene frowned, flinched, and shook his outstretched hand.

* * *

"What's in this one?"

Chris rolled his eyes, and steadfastly pushed the straw towards her. "It's a strawberry cheesecake milkshake," he said.

Paige looked at him suspiciously, as suspiciously as she could considering she felt like a truck had hit her, reversed over her, driven over her, reversed back, and driven over her again. She also felt dirty, smelt like a manure factory, and was still completely bewildered at how come the family was still all packed up there despite the atrocious smell.

Piper had cleaned it up twice already, making some quip about diapers and practise for baby Chris, which had caused Chris no small amount of embarrassment too, but it was still coming out of her with no end in sight, and Paige was sore and cranky about it. Added to that the concoctions that Chris was making her eat…

It had started off with her having to eat a block of lard, which normally she would have freaked out at (and promised him detention for a month, if his earlier comments about her being his teacher were true) but when Dan had brought it to her mouth, she'd almost inhaled it. It had smelt really good, and her body was obviously craving the fat.

On the plus side, she reckoned, her body must have eaten up a whole lot of the little bits of excess fat she had. When she'd voiced that thought out loud, she'd gotten a whole host of crazy stares, and Piper had patted her own stomach pointedly.

Now, Chris had raided the kitchen for any food containing all the other things she was missing out on, now her body was processing fat again, and this new one sounded weird.

"It's good," Chris said, and then drank a little of it himself. He blinked twice, owlishly. "It really _is_ good." He frowned a little. "Are you feeling okay? 'cause I think you've eaten enough-"

The waft of the drink floated down to Paige, and her nose wrinkled. She'd never enjoyed food this much in her life. She loved the smell of food when she was hungry, and when she was hungry she ate, and then didn't like the smell of food any more. Now she was perpetually hungry, and her body was processing it like no end (a side effect of the potion, Chris had explained) and she was enjoying it. And she knew, at the moment she smelled it, that she really wanted that milkshake.

"What's in it?" Paige said, trying to push herself into more of an upright position, squelching a little and being held back by Dan.

"Strawberry cheesecake, milk, cream and ice-cream, just blended together," Chris said, reluctantly holding it out to Dan. "We went through a phase as kids when we would put anything in a milkshake. It's a great way to do it."

Paige yanked the milkshake off Dan, and gulped at the thick drink. "Huh," she said, eloquently, drinking the rest of it in one go.

"I think she liked it," Dan offered with a grin as Paige sheepishly lowered the glass. She scooped out some of the milkshake stuck to the side of the glass.

"You'll have to teach me that," Paige said. "As compensation for aging a month in five minutes."

Chris rolled his eyes, and then twisted as Paul approached the sofa, wrinkling his nose at the smell.

"Okay," Paul said, "I've finished explaining it to Cole and Granddad. They're a little fuzzy on the details, but Cole is trying to write down everything he's ever heard about Elders, and mom," he flickered a guilty look to Paige for a second that Paige caught and wondered about, "is looking through the Book of Shadows, for news on the Book of Words and anything we can use to track down and hurt Gideon."

"Tell her to avoid the Book of Words," Chris said, his voice low. "It's inconsequential."

"But if Wyatt gets a hold of it-" Paul started, worried.

"He won't," Chris said, his voice flat, his gaze locked with Paul's.

"Then you _do_ have it," Paul accused.

Chris looked at him. "No."

"But-"

"But I know where it is," Chris said. "And I know Wyatt won't get it in a million years."

Paul sent him a dirty look as he moved away over to where Piper was sat with the book.

Paige held her stomach, and groaned a little. Dan and Chris both turned their attention to her immediately.

"I feel so lousy," Paige said, pulling a face. "And I want a _shower_."

Chris grinned. "You really don't change," he said simply, shaking his head. He looked at Dan. "Uh, you'll be okay helping her, right?" Dan nodded. "I think she's had enough food and water, but take some in with you into the bathroom. If she gets any twinges or pain, give her some more. If it gets much worse, call me." He pulled a face. "But only if it's an emergency."

Dan nodded. "What are you-"

"I'm going to call-" Chris started, and then stuttered out, "Leo" as a blaze of blue lights came down and solidified into the form of his father. "Leo," Chris said, "I was just about to call you."

Leo looked at him, a look of anguish on his face. "Gideon's gone to ground," Leo said, his voice flint-hard. "And the Elders won't do anything about it. I'm here to help you find him." He looked at Chris, who nodded.

"I agree," Chris said. "We do need to find him. And fast." He looked over at Piper, in the corner, nestled up with the book, but looking over at them, worried. He lowered his voice. "I can't risk mom being stressed much more. If she goes into premature labour… There's been enough chaos in this house as it is. We have to do this quietly, together, and fast. No more chaos."

"Right," Leo said, just as quietly. "What did happen here anyway?"

Chris' face settled into a tight line. "Long story," he said. "Potion gone awry, and-"

He fell silent as a sudden darkness passed over the attic, and he shivered.

"Wha-"

_CRASH!_

All faces turned to the window. A flurry of wings was beating against the windows, accompanied by a large cacophony of howling, shrieking voices.

There was a spray of what looked like lightning, and the windows imploded inwards, spraying glass and timber into the room as the demons started to claw their way into the attic…

* * *

**T - 6**


	48. Chapter the Fortyeighth

**Neurotic

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**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

**Notes:** In case you hadn't noticed, I'm back to posting daily, which will continue until June 9th, barring huge FFN/Internet failure. So by this time next week, 'Neurotic' should be over. See you at the finish line!

* * *

**Chapter the Forty-Eighth**

"Onslaught"

* * *

Wind whipped around them and long claws started snaking into the room, long claws attached to long, scaly bodies and ferocious red eyes and large black scaly wings.

"What the-" Leo yelled into the howling that seemed to bodily surround them. He dared to edge a look at Chris, and his stomach dropped even further, all the colour had drained out of his face. He was vaguely aware that Paige had managed to orb her and Dan out of the attic, Paul had grabbed at Cole and Victor and orbed them away, but Piper must have refused, because she was on her feet, hands outstretched, but somehow all he could look at was Chris' gaunt face.

"I can't believe it," Chris said, shouting above the howling. "He did a Calling! There's no way he could do that on his own."

"A Calling?" Piper yelled, her hands starting to twitch into action. Some of the winged _things_ at the window exploded, causing more shards of timber and glass to fly into the room, but the ones that were gone were almost instantly replaced.

"A Calling," Chris said, his own body snapping into action as he started to use his power, squeezing the life out of them. "It calls any and all demons in the area to attack wherever they can sense magic."

There was a large explosion somewhere, and the house rocked.

"Any and all demons," Chris repeated, his eyes wide. "And because we have the greatest magic users in this house, they're attracted to us, like high powered magnets."

"Paige," Piper said, her expression mirroring her son's, eyes wide, skin pale.

"She'll get herself somewhere safe," Chris said. "I trust her. For now, we've got to keep fighting."

Leo's eyes narrowed, and he summoned an energy ball with one hand.

"You'll get in trouble for that," Chris yelled at him above the noise, gesturing and waving his arms around madly, trying to kill as many demons as he could, but they just kept coming, ripping past each other in their frenzy to get in. The house rocked again, and they tried not to think about what other demons were piling into the house.

"I don't care," Leo said, "my wife and son are in danger from demons. I can't stand by and do nothing." With that, he let the energy ball go, and it pummelled into the demons, doing a large amount of damage.

Still the demons fought, and the three battled side by side, getting wearier and wearier, until the demons started to get less and less, and Chris inextricably stood back, breathing hard.

"I can stop them," he said, and dropped to his knees. Leo was about to run to his side, when a silence barrier crackled around him, and he had to turn his attention back to the demons. He didn't know what Chris must have done, but one minute later, a purple sheet of energy crackled up over the windows.

The demons flew against it, screeching, their claws outstretched, grappling with the shield and getting burnt. Several of them tried, but were hurt, and eventually they flew away, screeching angrily.

Leo whirled on his feet, looking down at Chris, still knelt on the floor. He looked absolutely winded, and when he looked up, his face was gaunt and grey. "I can hold it for a while," Chris said, his words forced and fast. "I don't know how long. A day, maybe. More if we get the Power of Three back."

"How?" Piper said. "Is it the same way you transferred the pain from me to you?"

Leo looked between them, confused, as Chris nodded.

"And it hurts you," Piper said.

Chris nodded again.

"I don't want you to have to hold it for a day," she said, and turned to the wreckage of the attic. Walking steadily forward over timber, she grabbed the book, and turned to go downstairs. "We're gonna find a way to reverse this Calling."

* * *

Lieutenant Darryl Morris rubbed his eyes tiredly, leafing through the paperwork on his desk.

He knew exactly who he could call to explain this mess, but he still couldn't work up the courage to do it, especially since the explosion in the morgue. And especially seeing as how someone must have magically messed with his memories. It didn't take a genius to work out that it was because he'd gotten wrapped up with the Halliwells again. He couldn't afford to.

But maybe he couldn't afford _not_ to.

The entire state was buzzing with alerts of grotesquely deformed people, large birds with claws, dragons, people breathing fire, all attacking random houses, or gypsy communities, or communes. And it was starting to slowly spread outside the state, with reports coming in from everywhere.

The hospitals were filling up with victims quicker than they were able to get out of the hospital, and that was leading to the hospitals being attacked too. Every policeman was hard at work… and Darryl was left with the dregs of it. Despite his expertise in the area, he still wasn't trusted enough to go out in the field with the demons (and, oh, how he hated that word still) out there, for fear his report would come back with only half the information.

So he was sat there. Babysitting. Because apparently all the social workers were out with the police, trying to calm down citizens, and round up any children orphaned by the number of bodies piling up in the county's morgue.

He looked up from his paperwork to look at her. The little girl stared solemnly back at him, swinging her legs, her brown eyes wide and curious.

He was babysitting an orphaned six-year-old girl while the entire world was being attacked.

_Just another Halliwell side effect, _he thought uncharitably, resenting the fact he was stuck in the office.

"I shouldn't be here," the girl announced suddenly.

Darryl frowned. "Why?"

"You'll be in danger."

"Me?" He tilted his head. "Why would I be in danger, Bianca?"

Bianca stared at him flatly for a moment, and then lifted up her wrist. Darryl looked at the red birthmark that looked like a stylised bird in flight. "You know these attacks are evil. I can tell. In your eyes. You know my world exists."

"_Your_ world-" Darryl inhaled sharply.

"Demons," she said. "Magic."

"Are you a demon?" Darryl slid his hand underneath his desk, automatically searching for his gun, his throat going instantly dry.

"No, silly," Bianca said, shaking her head and laughing. "I'm a Phoenix." She held up her wrist again for him to see.

Darryl's hands froze in the search for his gun. "I see," he said slowly, trying to take it in. "Uh, does that mean you can come back from the dead if you die?"

"When I'm older," Bianca said. She rolled her eyes. "I'm not a bird. I'm a _witch_."

"Oh," Darryl said, looking away, suddenly feeling worse from the turn of conversation. "Right."

"And the demons are only attacking people with magic," Bianca said. Darryl turned his gaze back to her. She was talking earnestly, her hands folded on her lap, deadly serious, and something about it all just _hit_ Darryl. This was a six-year-old kid, given to them by a 'mysterious stranger' who just so _happened_ to sound and look a lot like Chris, (whoever _he_ really was) whose mother had died, and she was so _serious_. A _six-year-old_.

"And you have magic," Darryl said, keeping his voice down. There was hardly anyone in the building, just a skeleton crew, as most of them were out and dealing with the demons.

"So you'll be in danger," Bianca said.

"What kind of magic do you have?" Darryl said, suddenly curious.

"Nothing much at the moment. Shimmering is what I'm good at," Bianca said, looking quite proud. "Mama said-" She was smiling brightly, but her smile dropped away, and she looked down at her feet. "Mama said I was real good at it."

"Can you take other people with you when you shimmer?" Darryl asked, vaguely recalling seeing Paige orb with more than one person.

"Yes," Bianca said slowly, drawing out the syllable.

"So if someone attacks, you can take me with you," Darryl said. "Or you can shimmer away, and the demon won't attack me, because I'm not magical."

Bianca clapped her hands together and looked up at him, her face shining. "You're right. Thank you!"

"So you're going to need a new home after all of this," Darryl said lightly.

She turned her face away to look out of the window. "A whole lot of children are, after this."

Something in her face moved him.

"This is a Calling," Bianca said, her voice soft. "Someone with great power has called all the demons to eradicate all good magic. It's going to be a long night." Her face twisted again, and she looked sad, so desperately sad that Darryl moved around his desk, and took her hand in his.

She turned around and impulsively hugged him, sniffing into his shirt.

"It's going to be such a terribly long, dark night. And we might not make it," she said.

He turned her face up to him, and was sad to see it so tear-stained.

"But after that night there'll be morning," he said, not knowing where the words were coming from, just reaching inside himself to memories of seeing his girls, the Halliwells, in action, and feeling so sad that he'd pushed them away so harshly, trying to think what they'd say in this situation. "And after long nights, mornings are brilliant."

Bianca sniffed, and nodded, her tears stopping.

"And after that, you can come live with me, my wife and my two boys. How would you like that?" For one long moment, Darryl didn't know where those words were coming from, and a dark part of him suspected magic had made him say it, made him promise, until he realised that he honestly meant it. He wanted this pale girl with such devotion and seriousness in her to be part of his family.

Or maybe it was Fate. Sheila had been making some noises about wanting a girl, and with her hormone problems at the minute, conceiving normally was looking unlikely, and Sheila had mentioned vaguely about adoption…

But if Darryl believed in Fate, it would mean having to believe in magic too. And that was something he'd been rather keen to avoid embracing.

Bianca looked at him for a long moment. "Are you sure?" She said, finally, sensing his reluctance, but attributing it to herself rather than the difficult internal struggle he was going through.

"Yes," Darryl said, realising he meant it, realising it meant embracing her world and everything thing in it again, from the magic to the demons to everything. But embracing the bad meant embracing the good too. "Yes, I do."

"Then yes," Bianca said, her eyes shining. "Uh, but don't you think you should ask your wife and sons first?"

Darryl nodded, and reached instantly for the phone, and as he dialled the number reflected on how serious Bianca actually was. And how three days with his manic kids would probably let her be relaxed enough to be a kid again.

The phone connected. "Hi love," Darryl said, as brightly as possible. He smiled at Bianca and she smiled back, and that gave him the courage to continue. "It's me. I've got a preposition for you…"

* * *

**T - 5**


	49. Chapter the Fortyninth

"_I can't protect them from everything. Or I'll probably end up making them neurotic."

* * *

_

**Neurotic

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

**Dedicated: **to Strawberry Cheesecake Milkshakes, which were somehow always on the story Map for "Neurotic". They're so addictive, though.

* * *

**Chapter the Forty-Ninth**

"Weak"

* * *

"This is fan_tas_tic."

Chris stared at Paul, an almost accusing expression on his face. Paul was staring at the television, at its spreading news of destruction, and only noticed Chris was glaring at him after a minute.

Paul wrinkled his nose suspiciously. "What?"

"Just wondering where you got your extreme sarcasm from," Chris said.

"Says someone who _isn't _a Jedi master of sarcasm himself," Paul said, with a sniff, folding his arms and looking Chris up and down.

"Okay, I get your point," Chris said, rolling his eyes and dropping down to the ground, picking up a handful of debris and letting it fall to the ground. His gaze scattered across the destruction in the room, before falling sadly on Piper in the corner, furiously scanning the Book of Shadows. Cole and Victor were helping, with Chris' Maps strewn around her, and they were working madly, trying to make some sense of this all.

Leo had disappeared as soon as the destruction hit the main news. Paige was pretty much out of action, having being hit with some severe stomach cramps, and was upstairs at the moment, Dan helping her have a bath.

"What are we going to do?"

Chris jumped at the sound of Paul's voice, and he turned to see the Whitelighter slumping against the half-destroyed sideboard, his dark eyes staring at the screen in horror. Paul turned to Chris, his eyes searching Chris' face, and Chris tried not to quail at the amount of trust Paul was placing in his leadership. And then did internally quail, because he didn't have a clue of where to start.

"Chris!"

It was Paige's voice this time that caught his attention, and he twisted on his heel to see Dan helping Paige down the stairs. His hands were on her hips, and she was leaning into him, and it was a sight that reassured Chris – one of the happier images he remembered from his childhood. _Out of, oh, I don't know, about five things?_ his brain snappishly interjected, and he shook that thought away. He _had _had happier times in his childhood. That they were difficult to remember amongst the bad things wasn't the point.

"Yeah?" He walked over to them, and helped Dan clear off one of the armchairs for a still-weak Paige to sit in. She took the chair gratefully with a weak but wide smile.

"How do you make those cheesecake things?" She battered her eyelashes at him winningly, and Chris frowned.

"Uh," he said, "half a quart of milk, ice-cream, and half of a cheesecake – there should be still half in the fridge. Don't add all the milk at once, but put everything else in the blender and add the milk until it's nice and thick..." He blinked at her, frowning. "Why?"

Paige shrugged at him. "Just have an awful craving for it," she said. "And it's good for my body at the minute, right?" She smiled at him. Chris was so relieved at how much better she looked, and hadn't quite stopped berating himself yet for even suggesting making more than one potion at once, and here she was, fine. Weak, but glowing slightly with renewed energy.

"I'll make you one," Dan said, "although I can't promise that it'll be as good as Chris's one. And, uh, I can't promise there won't be any sawdust in it." He looked edgily at all the protruding floorboards.

Paige grinned. "I don't mind sawdust. Thanks."

He smiled and walked through to the kitchen, picking his way over the debris, seemingly happy to be doing something useful. Chris knew the feeling. When he was younger and couldn't control his powers, he'd gotten so frustrated not being able to help fight demons. And then, when he was older, he wasn't _allowed_. He definitely understood the frustrations of not being able to help much.

A blur of light to the corner of his vision made him jump, and he saw Leo materialise amongst the wreckage. He looked at Chris. "The Elders were a _lot_ of help," he said, his facial expression evidencing the opposite.

"Lovely," Piper said, pulling a face at her husband, then smiling at his return. He moved over to her and smiled sheepishly in return, pleased to be there.

"And _that's_ where we get out sarcasm from," Chris said triumphantly, waving his hands at his parents. Paul looked away from the TV at Piper and Leo and smiled tightly. Leo and Piper looked at Chris questioningly. Chris looked back at them, tilting his chin defiantly. "Well, you _are _where we get our sarcasm from," he defended.

"_No_," Piper said, her voice deadpan. "Of course not. Why would I give my sons sarcasm?"

"Because it's not fun at _all_," Chris returned, and then winced. Pain rocked through him and he fell to the floor, his vision suddenly blurring and splintering into lights, and he was vaguely aware that Leo and Victor had leapt to his side to hold him up and stop him from falling to the splinter-covered carpet.

He looked up at them gratefully. "Thanks," he said, and leant on them as they shepherded him over to sit next to Piper.

"Is this because of the barrier?" Piper said, leaning over, the Book of Shadows abandoned on her knees as she motherly felt his forehead. "You're burning up. Lower it. I'm sure we can fight off some demons for a while."

"Not for long enough." Chris' face was grim, and he closed his eyes, focussing his attention back on the purple barrier spinning around the house. He was glad it was working properly – Victor, Cole and Dan hadn't been able to see it, so he had made it invisible to mortals – but he couldn't keep this going for much longer. He'd told them he could hold it for a day, but truth be known, he wasn't even sure he could hold it for another hour.

"How are you doing this?" Piper said, her voice low.

"I can't tell you," Chris said, his tone miserable, his eyes locked with hers. "Believe me, I would. But Wyatt can't know how to do it. It's bad enough that he knows I can. I've been trying to keep it from him for _years_." He broke off as another ripple of pain undulated through him. "But I have to keep this up. If Wyatt attacks now, with all those demons, we wouldn't make it. We have to reverse the Calling, and we have to get Phoebe back. End of discussion."

Piper opened her mouth to say something, but then caught the finality of his tone. Her eyes darkened as she stared at her son, taking in the pain and seriousness on her face, and hurting alongside him, hurting because her son was taking on the responsibility of the world. _He shouldn't have to do this_. She nodded, and leant back, going back to the Book of Shadows.

Chris leaned back on the sofa, wincing with the pain; glad a little now that he didn't have to hide it so much now they knew it hurt him. "Leo," he said, hating now that his voice was weakened, but Leo sat on the arm of the chair, and looked at him, a mixture of pride and worry on his face. "To stop a Calling, we need to find out who did it. And there's one demon who might know. He was born on the night of the first ever Calling." Chris' face tightened.

"_Barbas_," Leo said, his eyes widening.

"Yeah," Chris said, a weak smile on his face. "Wonderful, isn't it?" He pushed himself up in the chair. "We know he's been around here, so it shouldn't be too hard to find him. We need to reverse the Calling."

"So you can drop that barrier," Leo said, his voice low. "I've got a couple of contacts." He orbed out without another word, his brow furrowed, a dangerous glower on his face, which Chris was weirdly touched by. He'd never seen Leo so protective over him before. _Maybe we've got a chance in this future. If we don't all die now._

He closed his eyes and willed Leo to hurry up.

* * *

Leo entered the tunnel with only a small amount of trepidation, his fear covered with worry for the world, worry for his family under attack, worry for the strange thing Chris was doing. He had heard of a few objects over history with the power to do what Chris was doing, and wondered if Chris had the use of one. The Orb of Destiny could do it, but hadn't been seen in this reality any time soon. And then there was the Book of Words, but that was a myth.

Even though it was a myth, Future Wyatt seemed certain Chris had it. And Chris was definitely evidencing powers from it, but had promised he didn't have it.

It was all a confusing dilemma that Leo was desperate to sort out, before Chris died from it.

Because that's what that much power would do to Chris. Leo had recognised it, and that's why he hadn't paused to ask any more questions and waste any more time. Chris was dying from what he was doing. Leo hadn't the heart to tell Piper, all he could do was solve this, and stop Chris from going through it.

With a fierce pride in his son overruling his nerves, Leo kept his senses alert as he walked down the tunnel. Abandoning anything the Elders had told him to remain a pacifist, Leo had used full force on Janus, a literally two-faced demon he'd once saved the life of (_that_ was a story that Leo didn't want to explain to the other Elders) – needless to say, the two had a pact. Janus would alert Leo of trouble in the Underworld, rat out his demon pals as it was, and in return Leo wouldn't kill him, or set the Charmed Ones on him.

Janus had pretended to resist, but had quailed under three minutes under the onslaught of a well-timed energy bolt, and had spilled everything.

No, he didn't know where Barbas was. But he'd had a chat with him, once upon a time, and found out that the Seer's Mentor – Yenene – was quite possibly the very demon that had instigated the Calling. She'd done it before, at the very least, so she would know how to stop it. And only the person who started it could stop it.

Leo thanked Janus very politely, and then vanquished him himself. Janus died screaming in a blaze of fire.

Leo didn't even feel guilty. He couldn't risk leading a trail to who he was looking for. Demons had an annoying propensity to go further to ground when they found out they were being looked for.

He heard sounds in the distance, and stopped reminiscing, concentrating instead of activating his Invisibility Charm. He held his hand forward to check it worked, and then hurried as quickly and quietly as possible down to the end of the cave.

What he saw surprised him greatly.

Wyatt was stood there, adult Wyatt, evil overlord of the future Wyatt, his hands extended, white lightning crackling from the end of his fingertips. The lightning was directed to a small bundle on the floor. A small lump of a figure that was slowly changing under the energy.

Leo stared as the small bundle of rags changed before his eyes into a young woman, in jeans and a dusty green sweater, with blonde straggly hair. She was curled up in a heap. Wyatt hadn't been hurting her, which he'd first suspected, he'd transformed her. Whether it was into something she wasn't, or originally _had_ been, he didn't know.

"There's your half of the deal," Wyatt said, his mouth curling. "Let it be known in the future that Wyatt Halliwell lives up to his promises."

Wyatt turned to where Leo was standing, and Leo froze, but Wyatt's face didn't move, didn't flicker. _The amount of energy he just expended probably dulled his senses, _Leo realised.

"Don't recall the demons," Wyatt said coolly, not turning his head back to the young woman. "Or I will come after you." He smiled, and because of where he was faced, Leo felt Wyatt was smiling at him. A shiver ran down his spine, and Leo fought to stop himself from moving. The woman whimpered in response, and Wyatt strode out of the tunnel.

Leo contemplated going after his grown-up son, but guilt twitched in him, that it was _his_ son who'd grown up evil, so he turned his attention to the woman, who Wyatt had inferred had made the Calling.

He made himself visible, and walked over to her, dropping down by her side.

He rolled her over, and inhaled sharply. Her arm was covering her face, so he couldn't see who it was yet, but the injuries covering her body were quite an obvious testament that she probably hadn't made the Calling willingly. He held his hands over her injuries, the deep bruises showing through her ripped clothing, the deep gashes and silvery scars that showed they gashes weren't one-offs, and willed her to be healed.

A golden glow spluttered forth, healing her injuries, and he exhaled slowly. She _must_ have been forced to do the Calling, or else he couldn't have so wholly healed her. Healing someone completely evil was possible, but it hurt a whole lot more. There was evil in this girl, but not much.

The girl whimpered, and lowered her arm, blinking furiously. Recognition flooded both of their faces at the same time.

"I know you," the woman said.

Leo blinked at her, the blonde hair, the green eyes, and knew he knew her, too. But she looked a couple years older than she should have done. Maybe it was the trauma. "Jenny Gordon. You're Jenny Gordon."

"And you're Leo," Jenny said. She tried to sit up, swooned as if dizzy, and Leo helped her into a sitting position, leaning her against one of the tables.

"Did you do the Calling?" Leo said, asking the question directly, not wanting to waste any more time. His son's life was on the line.

"I-" Jenny looked at his face, her eyes scanning it worriedly. "I didn't want to."

"Then reverse it." Leo's face was immovable as he stared at her.

"I _can't_," Jenny said. "He'll hurt me."

He looked at the terror on her face, and took one of her hands in his. "You remember Piper, don't you? Your uncle Dan's ex-girlfriend?"

"Yeah," Jenny said, her voice low and shaking. "Piper and Phoebe and Prue. But I heard Prue died…"

"They have another sister, Paige. You've made a Calling, so you know about magic. Did you know they were the Charmed ones?"

Jenny's eyes flew to Leo's. "He said they were _gone_. He said the Charmed ones were dead."

"He?"

"Wyatt."

"He lied," Leo said. "Apparently he's really good at that. But the point is, they can protect you."

Jenny looked away, and then looked at him. "You promise?"

"Yes."

She smiled, and Leo smiled back, getting the feeling this was the first thing in a long time she had to truly smile at.

* * *

**T - 4**


	50. Chapter the Fiftieth

**Neurotic

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

**Dedicated to: **ME! Because it's my 21st birthday! Hurrah, hurrah.

Wait a second, it's my 21st birthday, and I'm _uploading fan fiction_… I'm so sad. :O

* * *

**Chapter the Fiftieth**

"Confession"

* * *

Chris knew the instant the Calling had been revoked, and dropped the shield immediately, to a chorus of stares.

"It's over," he said, looking at them all. "Can't you feel it?"

A host of shaking heads accompanied the blank stares.

"Oh," Chris said. He frowned. "Well, it is. The Calling bit of it all, at least."

"Brilliant," Paul said quickly, managing to speak despite the confusion of everyone else, breaking the silence.

"So I can stop researching the Calling now?" Piper asked, slamming the book closed with a very relieved expression. "Excellent. This book is making me cross-eyed."

"Wait 'til Chris has made the online version of the Book of Shadows," Paul said, winking at Piper. "It's amazing."

Chris blushed from the compliment, still feeling a bit weak and unable to stand. In the seat opposite of him, Paige sat, her face paler than normal, but a cheesecake milkshake in one hand. He had the feeling she would understand how he was feeling at the minute, and felt a rush of guilt again.

They'd been right to kick him out, several weeks ago.

His methods _were_ faulty.

"You put the Book of Shadows on the _Internet_?" Cole looked at him. "Isn't that a little stupid?"

"Naw," Chris said. "Demons honestly thought it was a joke. And mortals… I got a publishing contract for it, actually, from some kids' book place, who thought it was a good idea for a novelty illustrated book."

"You really _were _obsessed with the Book of Shadows," Victor said, wonderingly, leaning against the fireplace. He looked a little tired, and Chris looked over at Paul.

"Paul," he said, inquisitively. "Seeing as you're still not under Elder employ, I don't suppose you could fix things around here, could you?"

Paul blinked, as if he hadn't thought of it, and then grinned. "Sure."

He went for the Grandfather clock first, putting his hands over it, healing it back to normality.

"I could get used to that," Piper said, smiling at Paul. Paul smiled back at her, a little nervously, and Chris got that rush of memory again, of a thousand off glances, of whispered huddles between Paul and Pippa, and suspicion rumbled in his stomach, but without more information, whatever Paul was hiding was going to remain a mystery. And Chris doubted Paul would respond to a direct question.

Paul had healed about everything in the sitting room when Leo orbed in, holding onto a young woman that Chris didn't recognise at first.

A young woman that Dan obviously did.

"Jenny?"

Dan stood up from being at Paige's side, where he had been constantly since the potion incident, and rushed over. The woman – Jenny – blinked at Dan uncertainly, and then burst into tears, throwing herself into his arms.

That's when Chris recognised her. "Jenny Gordon!" Chris blurted. Piper looked at him, her eyebrows high, then looked back at Jenny with surprise. Paige, who had looked a little confused and miffed when Jenny threw herself at Dan, seemed to tense even more that this strange girl had Dan's surname, her brain obviously going to the wrong conclusion. "Dan's niece," he added swiftly, in Cole and Victor's direction, as if to tell them, but in actuality to reassure Paige.

Paige tossed a thankful look at him and he grinned back.

"Jenny, what are you doing here?" Dan held her at elbow's length, looking her up and down.

"Long story," Jenny said. "I got kidnapped, about, uh, a week ago, your time, and-" She looked at the ground. "Stuffed through this time portal, I guess, 'cause I found myself in Roman Britain."

"_What_?" Dan stared at her downcast face.

"I know," Jenny said, "I didn't even speak the language."

Leo bustled in quickly, putting an arm on Jenny's. "She's been through some trauma," Leo said quietly. "And a severe shape change, one I assume you've been under for a while…"

Jenny nodded. "A while," she said, her voice gentle but haunted. "You could say that."

"But I didn't even know you were missing," Dan said, his eyes trained on her. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"There wasn't anything you could do," Jenny said.

Dan blinked suddenly, and said very fast, "Roman Britain?"

Jenny laughed. "Afraid so."

"Then how did you get back here?" Dan said.

Jenny fell quiet for a long moment, and finally answered, "Another time portal, I guess," which seemed to satisfy Dan and the others, but Chris didn't believe her. Her eyes were haunted, and the pause was truly telling, and as she flickered her gaze quickly around the room, her gaze locked with Chris'.

An eternity passed in that stare, and Chris _knew_ why she was lying. She hadn't been through a time portal, somehow the shape change had meant she was able to _live_ until today, take the slow path through history. No one could go through so much history, so much pain and trauma, and not have it show in their eyes.

Chris knew about this all too well.

He also knew, to survive that long, sacrifices had to be made.

He hoped hers hadn't been too bad, and smiled at her. She blinked, and looked away. Chris quietly resolved to keep an eye on her – he didn't trust her.

Especially seeing as his dad had brought her back just at the same time as the Calling ended, which meant more than likely she had something to do with it.

"I'm sorry," she said suddenly, looking at Piper and Paige. "I did the Calling. I'm so sorry. I didn't have a choice."

Jenny looked so deeply ashamed that Chris was almost inclined to believe her for a second, but only a second. When it came to the Calling, you had a choice. 'Calling' was based on it being your choice – you couldn't do it otherwise.

Piper stared at her. "You almost killed my son."

Jenny blanched visibly.

"Wyatt has hurt her," Leo broke in.

Piper stared at him.

"We can't deal with this now," Chris said suddenly, his voice harsh. Jenny turned to him, her expression surprised. "Not this on top of everything. Do you have a home to go to?"

"My parents," Jenny stuttered.

"Now wait a second-" Dan started, turning to Chris.

"Great," Chris said, ignoring Dan. "Dad, can you take her?"

Leo moved to nod, and then froze, his mouth hanging open slightly.

Chris was unnerved by the expression. "What?"

"You called me dad," Leo said, a goofy grin on his face.

"I've called you it before," Chris said, suddenly feeling vaguely uncomfortable.

"Yeah, but that was when you were paying attention," Leo said, still smiling.

"Leo," Chris said flatly, his voice low.

"I can't go." Jenny looked at the ground again. "Wyatt will find me."

"I think Wyatt's a little more focussed elsewhere," Chris said to Jenny with a look that obviously told her he was deadly serious. "You'll be fine. If you're not, then call for _Chris_ and I'll come and get you. Okay?"

"Okay."

Leo stopped smiling, stuck his tongue out, and then sheepishly put it back in when he caught Piper's incredulous stare. "Fine. Dan, is that all right?"

"Sure," Dan said, a little dazed. "Jenny, I'll be in contact as soon as this all breezes over, I promise."

Jenny smiled at him, and Leo orbed her away.

Just in time to miss the front door clattering open.

Ignoring the pain still rushing through him, Chris made his expression neutral as he forced himself to his feet and followed Paul as they both dashed out to the hallway. If the others knew he was still in so much pain, they wouldn't allow him to do anything, and that could cause his future to happen again.

He couldn't let them happen.

He wouldn't.

Skidding around the corner, fuelled purely on adrenaline, vaguely noticing Piper struggling to her feet, Chris hurtled around the newly healed furniture, ready to blast whatever demon was going to try its chances…

…only to have to freeze suddenly when he saw who it was.

"AUNT PHOEBE!" Paul whooped and jumped forward before Chris could react.

Phoebe was stood in the doorway, dirty and sweaty, holding baby Wyatt protectively, smiling as she saw Chris and Paul.

"Wait," Chris said hurriedly. "Is it her?"

Phoebe instantly levelled a dirty look at him. "You're getting skanky on my ass? I should be getting skanky on _yours_, Mr. I'm Your Nephew From The Future But I Can't Tell His Own Aunt?"

Chris flushed. "Oh."

Paul made a small gesture with his right hand, and nodded. "It's her."

"I hadn't been able to tell from that comment at _all_," Chris deadpanned. Paul rolled his eyes.

"Wyatt!" Piper elbowed past Chris, and he had to fight hard not to let the pain show on his face. One gentle shove shouldn't have hurt like that. He was still overly sensitive from the amount of power he'd just used. The amount of power he knew he shouldn't have used. _But I had no choice_.

Piper grabbed baby Wyatt in a huge hug, planting kisses all over his face, her face twisted in desperation that she'd lost him, that she'd forgotten about him again.

"What, no hug for me?" Phoebe said, plaintively.

Paul looked at Chris, clocked his non-response, and extended his hands out. Phoebe grinned and walked into the hug. "How did you get away?"

"Oh, you know," Phoebe shrugged. Paul levelled a blank look at her, and she caved. "Demons started attacking the place. One crashed straight into the bars that Wyatt – older Wyatt – had set up, bent a hole large enough for us to get through. I kicked my way out, baby Wyatt did some vanquishing of his own, until we were out of the house. Apparently that was as far as Wyatt had set the restriction on orbing, 'cause baby Wyatt orbed us, and here we are." She stepped out of the hug, and frowned. "But older Wyatt saw us go. He looked mad, and said a name. Jenny."

"Oh, god," Paul said, his face pale. "And we just let her _go_. Chris!"

Chris opened his mouth, and let it fall.

Paul frowned, and instantly stepped over to Chris, his hand on Chris' elbow. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Chris said, "just a little tired from-" He gestured with his hand instead of saying the words. "Uh, can you go and help dad, get Jenny somewhere safe. Somewhere concealed by a lot of fairies."

"Asking me for help," Paul said, his voice low. "You _aren't_ all right."

Chris looked back at him challengingly. Paul rolled his eyes and orbed away. When the orb lights cleared, Phoebe had gone into the sitting room to surprise Paige, and Piper – Wyatt snugly curled in her arms – had moved closer to him.

"_Are _you all right?" She looked at him with such large, warm eyes that Chris didn't have the heart to tell her the truth at all. She'd gone through so much in the last few weeks, and dealt with it all, that he didn't dare make it any worse.

So he would pretend. For her.

_And in the end, hasn't this all been for mom, really? You wanted her back, you always wanted her back._

"I'm feeling a little sick," he said, admitting a small amount of the truth. Piper immediately put her spare hand on his forehead. "I'll just go and get a class of cold water."

"Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine," Chris lied. "You go and rest, and put my brother down. With all that extra strain of carrying him, your water will break."

Piper wrinkled a face at him, but stayed still. Chris sighed exaggeratedly, grinned at her, and turned to go off into the kitchen. He cast a look back as he went, and saw her going into the sitting room to where her two sisters were.

His face fell as he knew no one could see it, and managed to get to the kitchen without incident, but as soon as he was in there, he couldn't keep it bottled up any longer.

He hurt. Everywhere. Inside his bones and behind his eyes and with every small movement.

He crashed to the ground as silently as he could manage, sliding down the wall into a heap on the floor, his vision blurring. He closed his eyes tight, trying to fight past the pain, and then freaking out when he heard footsteps.

Chris yanked himself up into a sitting position, knees pulled tight into his body, hands clasped around the edge, just in time for Cole to walk into the room.

Cole's expression was wary, like that of a trapped animal, until he saw Chris. He stopped in surprise. "Chris!"

"Hey Cole," Chris said, pretending to be fine.

That lasted about two seconds, until the wave of pain he'd been blocking with the aid of his passive power for the last few hours suddenly crashed down, and his head fell back, his eyes slamming closed again, and he was faintly aware that he was whimpering out loud, his fingers sliding out onto the cool tiles, grasping on nothingness.

"Chris!"

Chris was also vaguely aware that Cole's shout would bring too much attention, so he snapped his eyes open, and clenched one hand. A silence barrier shuddered awkwardly into life.

Cole looked around himself, open-eyed, and then dropped down to kneel in front of Chris, his eyes searching Chris' face.

"What's going on?" Cole demanded. "Are you hurt?"

"Hurt?" Chris exclaimed in a high-pitched voice. He coughed, the sound abrasive, and he knew he was shaking. "Yes. Everywhere."

"We've got to get you to Leo," Cole said.

"No," Chris said, forcefully, his gaze fiery into Cole's own. "You can't. You can't tell anyone."

"You boys and your blasted secrets, this is serious, you're hurt, and from the looks of things we're really going to need you over the next few days," Cole said furiously. "I-"

"You can't do anything," Chris insisted. "It's not the kind of hurt that can be healed. Because I'm not hurt."

Cole looked confused. "But you said-"

"I'm not hurt," Chris repeated, his voice as steady as he could make it. "I'm dying."

* * *

**T - 3**


	51. Chapter the Fiftyfirst

**Neurotic

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

* * *

**Chapter the Fifty-First**

"Labour of Love"

* * *

"Dying?" Cole stared at the young man in front of him, his brow furrowed, confusion washing over him. "How can you-"

"I'm sure," Chris said, a little unevenly, but if he was _dying_ (dying!) then it was the least of what Cole could expect. "What are you doing in here, anyway?"

"Apart from being confused, it was a little weird with Phoebe in the room," Cole said, then narrowed his eyes at Chris. "And don't deflect the topic. Explain how you're dying, so we can save you."

Chris inhaled, and then exhaled. "I used too much power. I've access to a power that shouldn't be used by one person. But I couldn't ask anyone else to help, because no one else can use it. It was too much, and it channelled itself through my body, and my body can't take that much stress."

"And this power-"

Cole looked worried

"It's not an evil power," Chris said. He pulled a wry face, and then winced as another pain shot through him. "Not a good power either. It's just power."

Cole wasn't fully convinced, but knew that Chris probably wasn't going to tell him where the power came from. "How do we stop it from killing you?"

Chris looked at him blankly. "I don't know," he said.

"Bullshit."

"All right," Chris said, his voice taking on the hint of a challenge, "you can't stop it."

Cole was about to respond with another flowery retort, but Chris' face told him the young man was being serious. Actually deadly serious.

"I'm sorry," Cole said, eventually, unsure of what else to say or do. "But if you're dying-"

"We're in a stressful period, with a deadline," Chris said. "The last thing we need to do is lower morale. So we're going to keep it a secret."

"We're going to have to tell them you're at least sick."

"Bu-"

"No buts," Cole said sternly.

"Okay," Chris said, his breath hitching as he relented, and then cocked an eyebrow at Cole. "What did you mean before, anyway?"

Cole screwed up his face. "What do you mean?"

"When you said _you boys and your secrets_," Chris said, his eyes searching into Cole's. "What has Paul told you?"

"I-"

"I already know he has a secret. Something only he and my mom knew. But she's gone, and from the look of things, you know too." Chris' eyes were flat. "What. Is. It."

Cole opened his mouth, closed it, and then started to speak. "He's not-"

Chris shook his head quickly, and Cole stopped talking. Cole twisted his head in time to see Victor mouthing something at them. Chris jerked his hand and the silence barrier fell.

"What's going on in here?" Victor's eyes were switching between Cole and Chris, favouring the latter more, worry creasing his forehead.

"Nothing," Chris said automatically.

"_Nothing?_"

"Chris isn't feeling well," Cole said, "but his messiah complex compelled him to hide it. Putting up that barrier's has had a physical effect on him."

"My god, are you all right?" Victor stepped closer, but Chris slowly got to his feet, his face muscles tightening as he hid the pain.

"Um, could do with a lie down," Chris admitted, his voice lacking conviction.

"Come on," Victor said, taking Chris' arm. "We'll get you into the sitting room."

Cole hurried to Chris' other side, supporting as much of Chris' weight as he could, which wasn't that much, and they slowly started to help him walk.

* * *

Piper breathed a sigh of relief as two figures orbed into the sitting room. Paul grinned at her, and Leo moved over to her and kissed her lightly on the lips before sitting on the arm of the sofa next to her.

"Is Jenny all right?" Dan asked, his voice quite melodic with worry.

"Yeah," Paul said. He looked around, waved his hand, and created a silence barrier. "We put her in the cave with all the fairies. The Elders were all killed in my time – older Wyatt has no idea about it."

Paul waved his hand again and the barrier dispelled.

"Good thinking," Piper said.

"They're going to look after her for the next few days until little Chris is born," Leo said. "Or at least until we've found and killed Gideon, which I hope will be sooner."

"Any news of him?" Phoebe said from the corner, which lead Paul and Leo to look over at the chair and stare, open mouthed. She folded her arms. "You hadn't noticed I was back?" She looked at them incredulously. "Not even that your own son was back?"

Leo stared at Phoebe, and then slowly dragged his eyes across to the playpen, where a much cleaner baby Wyatt was sat, gurgling at him. He immediately crossed the room to his son, and picked him up, making gurgling noises back at him.

Paul ran and hugged Phoebe, and she relaxed into the hug. "Welcome back," Paul said, his voice rough with emotion.

"Thank you," Phoebe said, grinning and ruffling his hair.

"Where's Chris?" Paul asked, twisting his head about as he pulled away from Phoebe. "We need to scry for Gideon, and-"

Piper watched, worried, as Paul broke off in mid-sentence, and then realised why he'd stopped talking.

Her stomach froze too, and her chest tightened.

Chris was standing in the doorway, his face gaunt and thinner than she remembered, his hair hanging lank and lifeless over his pale forehead, his eyes flat and dry. He was leaning as if his life depended on it against Victor and Cole, and he looked unsteady.

In silence, Victor and Cole helped Chris to the nearest armchair, next to where Paige was sitting, and they lowered him gingerly to the chair.

"_Chris_," Piper said, meaning to ask a thousand different questions, and ending up elucidating them all in that quiet way she breathed his name.

He looked at her, and for a moment it felt like her heart was breaking, his look was pure terror, until he masked it as quickly as that look had appeared.

"I'm just weaker than I thought I should be," Chris said, his voice weak. "I'll be fine. I just need to rest some."

"You look like you schmucked head first into something big and powerful," Paul said. "And lost."

"Nothing like that," Chris said. "Cole found me like this in the kitchen."

"You walked into the cooker?" Paul said, putting his hands on his hips.

"_No_," Chris said, quite seriously, only to look up at Paul, offended, when Paul started to laugh. "You're a moron," Chris added darkly.

"Thank you," Paul said, dropping a mock-curtsey.

"What did you mean, though?" Paige asked, confusion splayed on her face.

"Why did Cole have to find you," Phoebe said, explaining Paige's question.

"I kinda fainted a little," Chris said, chewing on his bottom lip and looking away.

"_Fainted,_" Paul said, his voice sounding a little strangled, and he ducked his head. When he raised it, ten seconds later, his cheeks were still a bit too red. "Like a little girl."

"I didn't faint," Chris snapped irritably. "I just passed out a little bit."

"Passed out?" Piper said, her voice rising, and then gasped a little.

"Um, yes?" Chris looked at her suddenly, nervously. "Uh, are you okay?" He looked at her flatly. Piper stared back. "You gasped."

"Nothing, just a bit of heartburn," Piper said. "But passed out? That's _so much more_ a reassuring way to put that you fainted," Piper said.

"Definitely where we get our sarcasm from," Chris said, waving his hand at Piper. Paul just smiled instead of saying anything. "I'll be fine," he added, his voice a little bit more firm.

"It's a good thing we've got a few more days," Paige said, and she narrowed her eyes at Chris. "And you're _resting_, you hear me? You'll be no good to us if you manly faint again."

"Yes, Aunt Paige," Chris said, forcing his voice into a higher pitch, the breathy tone of his voice indicating he'd said the phrase a lot in the past. "But you're right. We've only got a few more days. We need a battle plan."

"Yes, we do," Leo said, his voice grim. "We should-"

No one found out what he was going to suggest as the entire room was suddenly plunged into pitch-darkness.

* * *

Chris' stomach plummeted as the room plunged into complete blackness. A stench of rotting eggs reached his nostril, and he reached out blindly with his hands.

"What's going on?" Paige said, her voice carrying out quite loudly.

"I don't know." That was Leo's voice, unmistakable despite the unusual hostile edge. "Chris? Cole? Paul?"

"Sulphur," Cole said. "A cloud demon?"

"Whirlfog," Paul said, before Chris could say it.

"A what?" Phoebe demanded. "Oh, ow!"

"Phoebe!"

"Kicked myself getting baby Wyatt," Phoebe said quickly. "I'm okay."

"What's a Whirlfog?" Piper demanded, her voice higher, her breath quickening.

"Fog formed from the creation of a Whirlmire in a place that hasn't had any magic happen there in a long time," Chris said, finding it hard to breathe himself. "It sort of tracks the strongest source of magic around." He smirked despite himself. "Wyatt should be pretty annoyed that it didn't go straight to him."

"Is it dangerous?" Paige asked.

"What does it do?" Dan said.

"And who just grabbed my butt?" Victor said, a little plaintively.

"No, it's not dangerous," Paul said. "Just blinding. It's usually why Whirlmires are created in the first place, to send in Whirlfog to blind the enemy."

"Sorry, was an accident," Cole said, a little inexplicably until Chris remembered his grandfather's words, and he choked back a laugh.

"So a demon's getting ready to attack," Piper said, her voice low and harsh.

"Possibly," Paul said. "We need to get rid of it."

"Especially before the neighbours see," Phoebe said.

"The spell's a long one," Paul said. "Chris, can you-"

Chris was already trying hard to recall the spell, but in his weakened, pained state he could barely think straight, especially with all the darkness surrounded them. The thing about Whirlfog was that it wasn't just darkness, it was more the sheer absence of light, in a heavily physical form. The darkness pressed down on your lungs, on your eyes, and made you dizzy even if you were in the best of health.

Chris was far from being the best of health.

So when something very large and loud crashed against a wall in the house, Chris knew they didn't have time for the spell, however short it was in reality, and tapped into the powers that were killing him.

Almost instantly the Whirlfog dissipated, and the light of the real world was blinding. Chris shut his eyes against the light and the pain that was like liquid fire curling down his spine, and he blinked furiously, his hands outstretched in case of a large attack, he had no idea what was out there, and his vision vaguely refocused – albeit more blurred than before – just in time to see Paige orbing an energy ball back to the very large demon stood in the doorway to their sitting room.

His head pounded, and when he tried to move his head, the room span. When it finally settled, he felt like he was sitting on a slope, like the entire house was tilted.

"Zargler demon," Paul said, "typical Whirlfog demon. For once, I think that was just an ordinary demon encounter."

"_Ordinary?_" Dan spluttered a little.

"Ordinary," Paul said, smiling at him, unruffled.

"Oh," Paige said. "Ordinary." She looked across at Chris, and her expression softened. She looked suddenly, desperately upset. "Are you all right?"

All eyes were on Chris as they realised she was asking him.

He wasn't.

Using that power was killing him. And at this rate, he only had hours.

"Fine," Chris said tightly. "Migraine is all."

"I'll get you some Tylenol," Leo said, worried, running off to the kitchen so fast that Chris almost laughed, but the air he inhaled to do so burned his lungs. He could feel his heartbeat, straining against his ribs, and thought _maybe this is the end_.

"But we've still got time, right?" Paige said, looking around the room. "We've got a couple of days at least to find Gideon and make this all right."

Chris was about to agree with her. There was no way he could mention now that more than likely because of that last rush of power he probably wouldn't survive for a couple more hours.

_Nothing like your own death to ruin a family gathering_.

"No," Piper said, suddenly, and Chris' eyes flew to hers with worry, worry that their bond really was too great, and she could see it in his eyes that he was dying and not telling them. "We don't have time," she said, inextricably, and Chris' fear strengthened. She knew. She _knew_ and Chris didn't know _how _she knew, but she obviously did, because with her eyes trained on Chris she said, so slowly, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," he said, his voice low, past quiet, almost just mouthing the words, but she said.

"I've let you down so badly," Piper said, her voice creaking, her eyes glassy but alert, her hands pressed against her stomach, and her eyes downcast on the carpet, fixed on a large stain on the floor.

A large water stain.

Realisation clung in Chris' throat, and his head flew up. His gaze met Piper's.

"We've only got a few hours," Piper said, her voice truly miserable.

"Why?" Paige said, still clueless.

Phoebe breathed in sharply. "Piper," she said, gasping her sister's name. "Leo? LEO!"

Leo ran back into the room, his face slightly flushed, holding a bottle of Tylenol in his hand. He stopped at the sight of Piper, her face red and twisted in disappointment. "What's happened?"

Piper looked at him, so despondently that he stepped forward unconsciously in shock and dropped the bottle of Tylenol to the floor without noticing.

"We don't have much time before Wyatt's turned," Piper said.

"Why?" Leo said, his eyes searching her face quickly, as if her dejected and hopeless expression held all the answers.

"Because," Piper said, her voice a whisper that caught and held and resounded on the taut atmosphere, "my waters just broke."

* * *

**T - 2**


	52. Chapter the Fiftysecond

**Neurotic

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

* * *

**Chapter the Fifty-Second**

"Cage"

* * *

"This is _not _good," Piper breathed heavily, as Leo kept his hand on the small of her back, making her keep moving, walking a small circuit around the sitting room. "Hospital, I need a hospital-" She gasped, and her knees weakened. Leo caught her, his worry almost tangible. "Now."

"I don't know if we can afford the power of three to be apart right yet," Leo said, his voice low and unsure.

"Paige and Phoebe can orb into the delivery room," Piper snapped.

"Except you would be apart, and I'd really rather you were all together right now."

Piper's insides froze, even as everything inside her was whirling, recognising the disembodied voice before Wyatt shimmered into the room, something white grasped in one hand, Excalibur grasped in the other, and a smirk on his face.

"Wyatt, no!" Chris yelled, and Piper only had time to look at each of her adult sons in turn, before Wyatt threw whatever it was, and the whole world went black.

* * *

When Chris came to, he wondered if he was dead and in hell. The floor was hard and red, and he was hot, too hot, sweating, and his entire body was still shrieking in pain.

"Chris," a voice said, soft by his ear, and Chris gravitated towards the comfortably familiar voice.

"Paul?"

"Sleeping beauty wakes," a cold voice purred, and Chris opened his eyes fully and yanked himself upwards to see Wyatt standing, hands on his hips, as he stared coolly down at him. Paul was by his side, one hand carefully on Chris' leg, his eyes flicking nervously between Chris and Wyatt. "We wondered how long it would take you."

Chris blinked. "We?"

"Look around," Paul said, his voice low and quiet in Chris' ear.

Chris looked.

And swore, loudly.

Wyatt laughed.

Chris, Paul and Wyatt were in some sort of cage with thick iron bars, a cage Chris recognised from the Book of Shadows – a cage that restricted any magic use. He remembered his mom telling the story of being trapped in it when Phoebe was in her Queen of the Underworld mode, and recalled vaguely needing the Power of Three to break it.

And from the look of things, they didn't _have_ the Power of Three.

Piper and Leo were in one cage, Paige another, Phoebe and baby Wyatt in a third. Outside the four cages, in the Underworld cave they were most likely in, Cole, Victor and Dan were being held by a group of Darklighters. Darklighters surrounded the cave too, their weapons trained on each of them.

Chris blinked furiously, trying to understand what was going on. Why would Wyatt lock _himself_ in with them, when he didn't have the power to let them out? And if someone else held the power to get them out, weren't they more likely to keep them all in cages and kill them and get rid of the Melinda Warren legacy forever?

The only thing that could get them out of the cages was the Power of Three. And Wyatt had deliberately locked it away.

"Keep going," Wyatt said, his voice soft, his eyes trained on Chris. "You'll get there."

"Tell me why I shouldn't just kill you where you stand?" Chris said, his voice level as his brain tried to sort through the seemingly impossible situation they were in.

Wyatt laughed. "With your bare hands? When you're too weak to stand?"

Chris glared at him, but didn't deny it. He was much too weak to do anything. He didn't even know how long he'd been unconscious. He might not have much time left at all. He edged a look at Piper and Leo, and his heart sank further. Piper was struggling, her face red, her breathing harsh, her mouth pressed together even as contractions racked her body.

Baby Chris was coming. And soon. Possibly only minutes away.

Despair twisted so sharply in Chris that he could taste it. It tasted like stale blood.

"Besides, Paul already tried," Wyatt added.

Chris turned quickly to Paul. He hadn't noticed that Paul's face was covered in bruises and blood.

"I didn't know that Whitelighters could be hurt," Chris said.

"We can't _die_," Paul said. "But sometimes we can be beat up."

"Why are we here?" Chris said, his eyes moving back to Wyatt's face.

Wyatt laughed. "Haven't you figured it out yet?"

"I don't have the Book of Words, Wyatt," Chris said.

"No?" Wyatt said, his voice light, his eyes cold. "But you must know where it is. And you must know how to use it."

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Chris asked, sounding a lot braver than he felt. He tried to raise his body from the ground and couldn't.

"Because you used its power," Wyatt said. "That's why I made poor little Jenny do the Calling. To see if you _would_ use it."

"To see if I'd lead you to it, you mean," Chris replied.

"Which you didn't," Wyatt said. "I was impressed."

"Ooh, lovely, my evil Overlord brother was _impressed_. I'm sorted for the rest of my life now," Chris said, making no attempt to hide the sarcasm.

Wyatt laughed again. Chris wished he wouldn't – the sound grated. "Oh, you mean the last hour of it."

Chris looked at him hard.

"You said you weren't going to kill us," Paul said, his voice angry as he moved forwards instinctively.

"I said I didn't _plan_ on it," Wyatt returned slowly, "unless you gave me no choice. But that's not what I was referring to, is it, Christopher?"

Chris exhaled, and looked down and to the side. He couldn't look at Paul, even though he knew Paul was staring at him in concern.

"Chris?" Paul said. "Chris, what's he talking about?"

Wyatt laughed again. "He used the Book of Words. But no one's supposed to do that. The human body's too frail for that much power. And he's used it too many times."

"What do you mean by that?" Paul demanded angrily. "Chris, _what does he mean?_"

Chris looked at Paul's furious, protective expression full on. In despair, he whispered the truth, but his words caught on and echoed through the chamber. "It means I'm dying."

"_No_!" Paul stared at him in horror, and then held his hands over Chris' body. "No, I won't let that happen. I _won't_." Desperately he ran his hands above Chris' body, his eyes screwing up in concentration. He pulled them back and looked up at Wyatt, angry. "Get us out of here, you freak, get us _out_!"

"I can't do it on my own," Wyatt said.

"Then I'll help," Paul said, through gritted teeth.

Wyatt smiled. "The cost will be great," Wyatt said.

"I _don't care_," Paul said. "Just don't hurt him." He turned to Chris, who stared at him with wide eyes. "I can't lose you, you're the last one left."

"But not if the cost is too great," Chris said fiercely. "And this is _Wyatt_."

Paul looked at Chris helplessly.

"He's already said he'll do anything," Wyatt said. "And the fact remains that there is only one way out of here."

"Then we'll stay in here," Chris said. "We'll stay in the cages. And we'll all die." He looked at Wyatt. "And your younger self will die. And our whole family. And the Charmed Ones." Sadness welled up in him, alongside the pain, but he didn't care. "But it might be worth it, to stop your tyrannical future."

"So you'd let your family die, _and _abandon the world to a future of demons and no Charmed ones to stop it," Wyatt said. "Well done, you're beginning to sound like me."

Chris looked at him, trying to be angry, but was angrier with himself, because Wyatt was right. He was sounding like Wyatt.

"But you can live," Wyatt said, his voice level. "You and Paul and me. We could live forever. The three of us. Side by side."

Chris glanced up at Paul, who looked just as confused. "What do you-"

And he froze, suddenly understanding what Wyatt meant by all of this. His head whipped up and he stared at him in surmounting horror.

"Yes," Wyatt said. "You always thought that power corrupted me, and I know you didn't agree with some of the changes I made to the world. But think about it. You'd be there. And Paul. We'd have all the power in the world, and could make the decisions together. I always wanted you to rule with me."

He stepped closer to Chris, and knelt down, putting one hand lightly on Chris' chin. Chris couldn't get himself to look away. "Paul's already said he'll do anything to save you. If we say the words, _we_ can be the Charmed Ones. We can organise the world however you want. The whole world will know our names. We won't have to hide who we are. Bianca can be yours again. Melinda would live. I know I made a mistake terminating them, but I was just angry. I wanted my brothers with me."

"We'd make decisions together?" Chris asked, his voice tremulous.

"Chris, _no_," Leo shouted, only for a Darklighter to lean into the cage and hit him. Leo stumbled back, and Piper called his name, and Leo reluctantly returned to her side, helping her breathe. Chris looked at them, torn. His birth was really only minutes away.

"We'd be brothers. Together. Unstoppable. If you two want to destroy demons, then we'll kill all the demons. Whatever you want." Wyatt's voice was soothing, hypnotising. "We'll have the future we always dreamed of."

"We'll bring mom back," Chris said, a little unsteadily.

"_Chris_," Paul said.

Chris looked at Paul, a little wide-eyed, a little upset. "Think about it, Paul. We wouldn't have to hide. And we could make things better. We could have the perfect future we always wanted. Maybe we've spent our whole lives fighting a battle that should never have happened, if we'd stuck together…"

Phoebe and Paige started shouting, but Chris blocked them out of his hearing, concentrating on Paul.

Paul looked absolutely torn as he stared at Chris, but then visibly sagged. "All right," he said. "You want to say the words, I'm in."

"Help me up," Chris said, feeling dizzy and light-headed, pain still coursing through him, but everything else in him felt leaden, as if everything was leading to this in his whole life, everything was leading to this car wreck, and he couldn't stop it.

Wyatt held out a hand, and Chris took it. Paul stood by Chris' other side, supporting him, and Wyatt held forth a piece of paper.

Chris looked at the words, and swallowed.

"We don't have to do this," Paul said, his voice low and desperate.

"No, we don't," Chris replied evenly.

"And with Wyatt… It won't be a good Power of Three," Paul added.

"It's that or our whole family dies," Chris said. "Phoebe. Paige. Mom. Melinda."

Paul's eyes darkened, and he took the other side of the paper, holding it out in front of them.

Chris knew Phoebe, Paige, Piper, Cole, Dan, Victor and Leo were all shouting now, all screaming at them, offering the family up as a sacrifice, telling them they'd rather die than have an evil Power of Three, and he started to cry, even though he didn't want to. The tears burned and blurred his vision, but he swallowed and began to read, hearing Paul and Wyatt's voices intermingle with his own. As wrong as it sounded, their voices in harmony also sounded _right_.

"_Hear now the words of the witches, the secrets we hid in the night, the oldest of Gods are invoked here, the great work of magic is sought. In this night and in this hour, I'll call upon the ancient power, bring your powers to we brothers three, we want the power, give us the power."_

There was silence as they finished, the words ringing out. Chris could feel his family's stares, the disbelief that they'd gone through with it tangible on the hot air.

"Did it work?" Paul's voice was small.

"Let's try it," Wyatt said, his voice grim. "The power of three shall set us free. The power of three shall set us free…"

Chris took up the chant, the words thudding against his heart like the heaviest betrayal of them all, and he could hear Paul starting to say the words before Paul burst out laughing.

Chris stopped in confusion as Paul bent double, laughing and wheezing.

"You two really thought that would work, didn't you?" Paul said, through his laughs.

"I-" Chris said, then dropped Wyatt's hand and stumbled back, looking at them both in confusion.

"But it _can't_ work," Paul said.

"Because you're not a witch but a Whitelighter?" Chris said, confused.

"It should have worked!" Wyatt said, snarling.

"It can't," Paul said again, before laughing. Wyatt stormed forwards to hit Paul, but Chris held him back with a burst of strength he didn't know he had, which abruptly worried him that it _had_ worked.

"Why?" Wyatt demanded. "Even if you weren't willing, Chris and I were. It should have worked."

Paul stopped laughing, and he was suddenly serious. "You know, I always wondered why I existed. I always suspected at the beginning of my life that it was to stop Chris being turned. But then he always seemed so incorruptible, so I stopped thinking that. But in the end, I guess it's true. I was here to stop evil turning you." He looked at Chris.

"What-" Chris began, his eyes searching Paul's face for a coherent answer.

"For the Power of Three you need three brothers," Paul said. "You only had two." He smiled at Wyatt.

Chris stared at Paul. "What are you saying?"

"Piper's not my mother," Paul said, his face still serious. It softened slightly. "Paige is."

Chris' disbelief joined with the pain and he sank to the ground again, on his knees, staring at Paul. "That's not true," he said, but he knew in that instant it _was_. It's what Cole was going to tell him, before. It's the truth he'd seen in Paul and Pippa's interaction a few weeks ago. And it was a truth he'd probably seen and denied his whole life.

"That's a _lie_," Wyatt said, furious, angry.

Chris saw a movement in the corner of his eye, and knew it was Paige, standing up in confusion and denial and surprise.

"Yeah?" Paul said, his voice low and harsh. "Prove it."

"NO!" Chris said, his voice angry, and Paul looked at him in confusion, until he realised what he'd just said.

"Too late," Wyatt said. He gestured at Paige and one of the Darklighters. "Shoot her."

Paige's mouth dropped in horror, but she wasn't fast enough. There was a blur as Dan tried to move but he wasn't fast enough either.

One of the Darklighters fired.

A second later, a dark arrow was protruding from her stomach, and Paige had fallen to the ground, Dan supporting her, a silent 'O' dying on her lips.

"I always wondered," Paul said, "if I only existed for one thing." His dark eyes flickered sadly over Chris, first cold and distant, and then with warmth. "And it's not true. I existed _for_ you. To save you from being turned. My own purpose in life was just that."

"What?" Chris blurted out, confused. "_No._ You had more purpose, you did, you're supposed to exist, you are, you're supposed to exist, not just for me. _Paul._"

Paul smiled, didn't respond, and then turned to Paige.

"I always loved you the most." He looked at Paige and Dan, his eyes wet with emotion, his face creased into an apology.

Paige stared at Paul, then touched her stomach, the arrow still protruding, and then stared upwards in muted horror.

"No," Paige breathed as realisation flooded through her, the realisation she'd been pregnant, and now… "_No_!"

"I was always glad I was your son," Paul said, simply, his eyes locked to hers. "Don't be sad. I had a wonderful life because of you."

And then he disappeared.

* * *

**T - 1**


	53. Chapter the Penultimate

**Neurotic

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **His name is not Chris Perry. It's Christopher. Christopher Halliwell.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **So, June 9th, pretty happily, I uploaded chapter 53 and 54 onto fanfiction dot net, sat back, dusted myself off, drank a whole bottle of my favourite caffeinated soda in celebration and congratulated myself for the second time in my life actually finishing a multi-chaptered fic. (The other one was a CardCaptor Sakura one, under another penname.)

And then I sat and waited for weeks, wondering why NO ONE LIKED IT. Then I went home, and had no access to the Internet for weeks. And then I opened my inbox last night to a small flood of reviews. I sat and opened them quite happily, thinking, finally, they've read the end – how did you all like it? Maybe you all didn't like the end, but had still left some criticism how I could write better…

So I read 'em, only to read they were chapter 52 reviews, asking why I was leaving it there.

And that's when I realised.

I'D UPLOADED THESE LAST TWO CHAPTERS, ALL RIGHT, BUT ONLY ONTO DOCUMENT MANAGER. I HADN'T PUT THEM ONTO THE STORY.

I'M SO LAME! WAH!

So, yeah, I hope you enjoy the last two chapters of Neurotic! Thanks for coming along for the ride. If you've any questions, ask them in your chapter 54 review (please do tell me how you've enjoyed the whole story as I've never written anything so long, and I'd like to do it again, but better, so please tell me how to improve!) and I'll answer them by PM.

If you've got this far in the story, thank you, you're the best!

Roll on the end of Neurotic!

* * *

**Chapter the Penultimate**

"Brother my brother"

* * *

"He did ask me to prove it," Wyatt said, his voice still callous and strong, but Chris detected a hint of uncertainty beneath it all.

He didn't blame Wyatt for once. Uncertainty was a feeling he could definitely empathise with.

How could Paul be just _gone_, just _gone_, just like _that_? There was no way this was genuine… Chris shook his head in despair, sliding to the ground, his hands sliding down the bars with a reluctant squeak.

Despair was tangible, and felt like the silvery sour taste of blood, strong in his mouth. Ahead of him, Paige was still clasping her stomach in horror, blood pouring out, with no way to stop it. Phoebe was kicking and screaming to no effect. Piper was whimpering with pain from labour, Leo's hands on her.

And Chris was still dying.

Things, Chris thought, were going well.

"You didn't have to prove it that way," Chris said. "Talk about crushing an ant with a boulder." He was aware of the disaster in the background, with Paige bleeding, demons holding Dan back, and Piper in labour, but he couldn't do anything about it, so tried to blank it out as best as he could.

Paul's ceasing to exist…

It could have so easily happened to Chris, over the last few months, and he hated how numb he felt. But there was time for tears later.

_If we survive this_.

"You're talking about clichés at a time like this?" Wyatt demanded.

"You killed our brother at a time like this," Chris said, sinking against the bars, his voice high-pitched with disbelief.

"Except he wasn't our brother," Wyatt said, crossing his arms, his tone surly. "And now we're stuck in here forever."

Chris thought about that for a moment, and realised Wyatt was almost right. "You're right," he said stupidly, and then started to laugh.

Wyatt shot him a weird look. "You're not doing that thing where you laugh instead of panicking, are you? Because that's so tired."

"Actually, you're almost right. But you could be right. I don't know," Chris said, then laughed some more.

"You're not making any sense!" Wyatt said.

"No shit." Chris giggled for another moment, feeling incomprehensibly weary, and then his face slid into a solemn expression. "Trapped in here, we'll all die."

"No shit," Wyatt mimicked, rolling his eyes, and sinking to the ground in frustration.

Chris looked across to his mother, his aunts, and his grandfather. "I came to the past to stop Wyatt. Not to cause the death of the Charmed Ones." His voice broke. "I could fulfil my aim, but lose all of you."

"Chris, you're not making any sense," Phoebe said.

"Like that's something new," Wyatt said.

"I can get us out," Chris said, a little unevenly. "I can get us all out."

"That's impossible-" Wyatt started. "Unless you _do_ have the Book of Words. I was right, wasn't I?" He climbed to his feet, his eyes sparkling with triumph. "You _do_ have it!"

"No," Chris said, his face steeling. "I don't."

"Then how-"

"I don't have the Book of Words," Chris said. "I _am_ the Book of the Words."

The words rang out in the cave to a stunned silence, and Chris took advantage of the silence to grab onto the bars and heave himself to his feet. "I can't believe that to get rid of you, Wyatt, that the world should be deprived of the Charmed Ones. I won't believe it." He gripped onto the bars. "Spellcasting!" he yelled, "O, P, E, N!"

A bright light filled the cave, so bright Chris had to throw one arm over his face, and there was a rush of heat, then some sort of explosion. He was bodily thrown through the air backwards, and when he opened his eyes, dust surrounded them.

When it cleared, he could see that the spellcasting had worked.

To be honest, it surprised him every time it worked. The first time, he'd been five years old. There was a television show, sort of an adventure quiz show for kids, that he'd been absolutely addicted to. It was called _Knightmare VR_ and was a remake of a British CGI show for children made in the late 80s and early 90s. Kids would be blindfolded with a helmet and guided around a virtual dungeon by three of their friends, and have to pick up spells and objects to defeat the evildoers and get to level 3 to defeat the evil Lord Fear.

Chris found a release in that show, believing it to be proof that most people _knew_ about magic, even if they didn't know it really existed. He always wanted to be one of the dungeoneers and walk around the dungeon, even though it was only computer generated, but as it was only for children in the United Kingdom, he couldn't apply for it.

Instead, sometimes he'd run around the garden with a bucket on his head, or watch TV with a clipboard on his knees, writing down clues to help them survive the dungeon.

On _Knightmare VR_, the kids would collect spells, but they didn't have to chant a rhyme or wave their hands. Chris thought it was so cool that they didn't need a poem to get spells to work. All they had to say was the word 'spellcasting', followed by the kids spelling out the word – and spelling it backwards to dispel it.

Chris had tried it one day, stood in the sitting room on his own, watching the kids on screen battle a twenty foot ogre. They said: "SPELLCASTING! L, E, V, I, T, A, T, E!" so he did too.

And ended up hovering by the ceiling, his hands grasping outwards, unable to get down.

He yelled for someone, but no one came. They couldn't hear him. So he floated around by the ceiling uselessly for a few minutes, watching the kids battle the ogre and win.

Then they dispelled it by shouting: "DISPEL! E, T, A, T, I, V, E, L!" Chris copied it, and sank to the carpet in a heap.

Just in time for Aunt Phoebe to come in and yell at him for making so much noise when he knew she had to work from home that day. Chris apologised, showed her his grazed knees, told her he fell over, and she abruptly became much nicer and cleaned him up, and told him not to get so excited over a kids show or they'd stop him watching it. He never told anyone after that what happened, fearing they'd stop him watching it, and he kept absolutely silent when Piper enquired why there were greasy handprints over the ceiling.

It was a decade and a half later, with extensive research and testing, that Chris discovered the power came from the force that _defined_ the universe, and in that same year when he discovered he _was _it. It was an integral part of him, but it did not define him. He could use the power, but every time he did, it wore him out. When Wyatt definitively took over the world, he knew no one could ever find out what he was, or he'd be used to death.

It was still that same year when Chris discovered he didn't have to say 'SPELLCASTING!' to activate the power, he could just will it, but after fifteen years of quiet and small experiments, not yelling the cry of 'SPELLCASTING!' was a hard habit to drop.

But the power wasn't really meant to be used. Chris didn't know how he knew, and just supposed the knowledge was part of being the Book of Words – he knew in the same way he knew he _was_ the Book. He was just supposed to exist to keep the Book alive, but could become a conduit for the power of the Book in extreme cases.

The most he'd ever used it was for really small, impossible kind of things. Getting out of tight corners that Wyatt had trapped him into. Only once he did something big, and it was what he'd done earlier – the force field. After that time, he'd spent a week in a coma.

Now he was forcing himself to stay awake. He'd used it too many times over the last week, from transferring Piper's pain to himself, to the force field, to opening the impossible cages.

"You _are_ the Book of Words, hm?" Wyatt looked at him, interestedly. "So if I do this-"

Wyatt brought up his hand, and sent six energy balls deflecting off in different directions into the cave, careering into the others. Chris jerked his hand and they all flung into the demons keeping Dan, Cole and his Grandpa in custody.

"Chris, don't!" Cole shouted. "Don't use that power!"

"Why not?" Victor asked. "He can kick Wyatt's butt!"

"Because it's killing him," Cole said, his eyes trained on Chris. "Use the power any more, and it'll kill you."

"That makes sense," Wyatt said, his lips curling into a horrible smile. "Hm, join me, or die. That sounds a familiar offer, doesn't it."

"I came here to stop you," Chris ground out, even as his legs collapsed beneath him and he crashed to the floor. A blur in the corner of his eye told him Phoebe had rushed to help, but Wyatt brought up his arm and she smashed backwards. Cole caught her before she hit the ground.

"Dad, help Paige," Chris said quickly. Leo nodded and reluctantly left Piper for a few moments as he quickly healed Paige, who stayed in a ball on the ground, sobbing.

"I could kill mom," Wyatt said, even as Leo ran back to Piper's side, standing in front of her protectively. "Then you'd cease to exist. I'd be fine."

"You've already killed her once," Chris said through gritted teeth. "I won't let you do it again."

"How?" Wyatt asked, his voice almost taking on a purring quality. "We've already established that you're not powerful to do anything to stop me any more?" He flicked his hand casually, and a grieving Dan lifted into the air and then smashed against the wall, falling unconscious to the ground. "You really should have left us both to rot in the cages. Now you've no chance. No power for any spells."

"I have power for three small spells," Chris said, then narrowed his eyes. The air shimmered in front of him, and a small syringe appeared, the needle glinting. Chris clumsily grabbed hold of it, his arms shaking, wheezing as he tried to breathe.

Wyatt laughed. "You really think I'm going to let you inject me with poison?"

"It's not for you," Chris said, and picked up the needle, and jammed it into his chest. He grunted in sheer pain as he pushed the liquid directly into his heart, and his body tensed up as he yanked it out with both hands, and slowly clambered unsteadily to his feet, his mouth slightly frothing, his eyes bloodshot.

"Adrenaline," Wyatt said, his eyes narrowing as he shifted his body into what was unmistakably a fighting stance. "It'll give you fifteen minutes, tops, in a weakened state. Congratulations."

"I've still got two summons left in mind," Chris said, spitting the words out as he teetered on his feet.

Wyatt held his hands up in defence, but said, "Try your worst."

"Spellcasting, S, U, M, M, O, N!" Chris held his palms out, and the middle of the cave shimmered. A large stone with a sword stuck in appeared, alongside a bewildered looking man.

"Excalibur and Gideon?" Wyatt sounded confused.

Gideon registered what was around him, and tried to bolt, but Chris held out his hands. A weak strain of white light spluttered first, terribly pale, but obviously enough to hold Gideon there.

"How about this," Chris said. "You're so sure that you'd be like this whatever happened, because good and evil doesn't exist. That's what you believe. Do you believe it right down into the core of your very being?"

"Yes," Wyatt said, lifting his chin haughtily. "I do."

"So even if I'm right, and Gideon did something to you when you were a baby to turn you, as I believe it, evil… It shouldn't matter. It might delay your rise to power slightly if he did do something to you, but it wouldn't change your core ideology, that there is no such thing as good and evil," Chris said.

"What are you trying to say? Spit it out before you do die," Wyatt said.

"Kill Gideon," Chris said. "If I'm right, you'll cease to exist. But you think I'm wrong. If you take Excalibur, and kill him, and nothing happens, then you're right. You'll have unshakable proof. And I'll have unshakable proof, that good and evil doesn't matter. If that's true… I know the spell. I can use the last of my strength to transfer the Book of Words to you."

"You'd do that?" Wyatt said.

"Yes," Chris said. "I believe in Good and Evil. If there's no such thing… If Gideon didn't turn you evil, if power is all that does really matter… Then I don't want anything to do with it."

Wyatt walked forwards and pulled Excalibur out of the stone, his eyes cool and hard.

"In front of these witnesses, you vow to transfer the Book to me if I kill him and nothing happens?" Wyatt said, his eyes lighting up with the prospect of all that power.

"That's all you have to do," Chris said.

At that second, a cry filled the air.

Baby Chris was born.

Wyatt made his decision, and with his hand extended, Excalibur flew forwards and solidly connected with Gideon.

And the instant Excalibur hit, Wyatt turned surprised dark eyes to Chris, and then promptly vanished.

* * *

**T -0**


	54. Chapter the Ultimate

**Neurotic**

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**Disclaimer:** Charmed does not belong to me.

**Summary: **"My name's not Chris Perry," he said. "It's Christopher." He paused, almost reluctantly. "Christopher Halliwell."

* * *

**Dedicated to:**

Everyone who has read all of "Neurotic". Thank you for investing so much of your time and imagination. It's been such a pleasure to write, so I hope it's been as pleasurable to read.

Thank you!

* * *

**Chapter the Ultimate**

"Choice"

* * *

Chris stared in horror as Gideon burst into flames and exploded. Excalibur stayed suspended in midair for a moment, before falling to the ground.

"He's gone," Paige said, her voice weak.

"Yeah, he just got vanquished," Phoebe said.

"She means Wyatt," Chris said, his voice soft and sad. "I was right." He looked dejected, and hopelessly confused. "But if I was right, then what the hell am I still doing here?"

Piper looked up from her new baby, which Leo had adeptly dealt with and wrapped in her arms, and felt her stomach fall when she realised Chris genuinely meant that question.

"What do you mean?" She said, looking from him to her baby and back again rapidly. "You saved the day, sweetie."

"But-" Chris shook his head, stepped forwards experimentally, and twisted on the spot, and then stopped and stared at her. "Wyatt's ceased to exist too. I became who I am _because _he was evil, because I saw he was evil, and you thought I was crazy… There's no way I'd be so bitter or neurotic if that hadn't happened." His face was strained with confusion. "I shouldn't be here. And I damned well shouldn't be feeling all right."

"It's because you sorted everything out," a female voice said out of nowhere. They all turned to see a white light sprint into the room and solidify into a warm, friendly looking black woman, with a beatific smile on her face. "Everything's back how it should be." She paused. "For now, anyway."

"Who are you?" Chris blurted, confused. "And why am I still here? I shouldn't be," he added quickly, shaking his head. "I can't go back to the future. This timeline's for _me_. The _other _me," he clarified, indicating his baby self, still covered in some indefinable gooey stuff Chris didn't want to know about, and covered in the same thick fur as all babies who came on time or were late.

"I'm the Angel of Destiny," the woman said, smiling. "And you're still here because you are the Book of Words. When you were born, it was just at the exact same second as the last Book of Words vessel died. It searches for the purest magical soul being born in that same second, and you're the purest soul to have been born for centuries."

"So shouldn't I have ceased to exist and the Book gone into…" Chris gestured at his baby self. "…me?"

"Sweetheart, it's already in you," she said, shaking her head. "And because you are the Book of Words, the last vessel in this plane died a minute ago. Because you are the Book of Words, it just became defaulted to you, which is why you have your energy back. Don't use so much power again, though… Only in a much more dire emergency."

"But if it's my destiny, aren't I depriving myself?" Chris said, still gesturing at his baby self, which Piper was hugging tightly.

"No," the Angel of Destiny said. "Because _you_, the person you have become, was destined to have it. You're right – that baby over there is Christopher Halliwell, but he'll grow up free of the burdens you had. He won't grow up with the same prejudices or trials. But those same trials caused you to become the perfect vessel for the Book of Words. It was _your_ destiny."

"Like Paul's destiny was to cease to exist?" Chris demanded. "Because he didn't deserve that. Of anyone in the world he didn't deserve that."

"What happened was meant to happen," the Angel of Destiny said. "I am not here to soothe the path, just to clarify your options."

"Oh, gee, whoopee," Chris said.

The Angel of Destiny stared at him flatly. Chris stared back, unrepentant.

"Forgive me for the sarcasm," Chris said, "but both my brothers vanished today. I think I'm allowed a little extra dose of bitterness."

"Wyatt chose his own path," the Angel of Destiny. "Now you must choose yours."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Shoot."

She smiled, and waved her arms. The environment around them blurred, and then suddenly they were back in the manor, in the conservatory area.

"Option one. You stay. Here. With the Charmed Ones. Stay on as their Whitelighter. Train up some of the next generation of fighters," the Angel of Destiny said.

"But then I'd have _me_ growing up around me," Chris said, staring at her, folding his arms across his chest. "That'd be weird and awkward."

"So you'd have to assume a role. That would be lying. For your whole life. Christopher can never find out that you are him. It could make him unbalanced, and the future – if this occurs – is clouded, even to me. You'd have to become someone else, and he could never know who you are, and you'd never be able to openly have the same closeness with your mother."

"You could be Uncle Chris," Phoebe piped in helpfully.

"No, that'd be weird," Paige said, her voice hoarse. She was sat on a chair, Dan next to her, his hand on her shoulder, and her eyes were wide and hopeful. "Uncle Perry. No name confusion then."

"And it'd be another P," Piper said, her voice ghosting.

"Option two. You leave. Travel the world. Become assigned to witches in another country. Australia or Britain are lacking at the minute. You could cut yourself off from the Charmed Ones if that's what you really desire, or stay in contact, your choice. Probably best if you cut yourself off completely, or assume a role again. You'd still be lying, but for less periods of time."

"I see," Chris said, his voice dull.

"Option three. Become an Elder. There's now a position free, and they'd welcome you for all your efforts."

"Oh, gee, really?" Chris' eyes widened. "Um, my dad was an elder, and, oh yeah, he died. They all did. So it's not an option," he finished, his tone flat.

"Option four, death," the Angel of Destiny said. "Not really your destiny, but it would relieve you of the Book of Words burden. It would pass to someone else. But because it's death on your terms, you would not be offered the position of Whitelighter, and it's doubtful whether the higher planes would accept you, given their views on suicide."

"That's all my options?" Chris said, his voice wavering. He sat down, stunned. "Such an astounding range of choices. How long have I got to choose?"

"Ten minutes," the Angel of Destiny said.

"Ten minutes?"

"A lot of destinies hang on the outcome of your choice. It's because you are the Book of Words that you're even being given a choice. But you have to choose within ten minutes, or the entire world will erupt into deeper chaos than you've lived through," the Angel of Destiny explained. "If you don't choose, I'm afraid choice four is default. The Book of Words must survive in a willing vessel, or it will lost strength and everything will cease to exist, the universe, time, and beyond."

"Option one," Piper said, her voice low and firm and trembling and filled with tears. "You've got no option. Option one."

"Risk destroying my other self's chances of happiness, of a full and happy life, just because I selfishly want to stay with my family?" Chris shook his head. "I can't do that. I can't risk him finding out, because a clouded future could mean anything. It could mean _Wyatt _happening again, it could mean _anything_. I won't risk that."

"But Chris-" Leo blurted. "We only just found you. I _won't_ lose you. You're not sacrificing anything else. You've done nothing _but_ sacrifice yourself for this family, isn't it time we made that effort for you? We can hide the truth, and give you and your baby self happy and full lives. We'll all try. We can do it."

"He's right," Phoebe said.

"Please," Paige said, simply, desperately. "And not what you're thinking, not so you can explain about Paul, and how this happened, or anything. And not because having you around will help me get over Paul, if I ever will. And not because the grief of having to get over you both might split us all in two. But _you_. We can't not have _you_ in our lives. Baby Chris will grow up to be splendid, but you're right, he won't be you. Why can't we have you both?"

Chris stared at them, lost.

The doorbell went.

"Crap," Phoebe said, and hurried out of the room. "Don't make any bad decisions while I'm gone," she said over her shoulder.

"Chris, please," Piper said. She walked over to him. Chris noticed she'd passed his baby self to Leo. "I need you." Her eyes locked to his. "I love you. So much. I love you so much I can't bear it."

Chris just looked at her, not moving. "I love you too. I love you so much."

Piper nodded, crying, and then froze. She looked up, her mouth twisting. "Ohhh, so _that's_ why you were going to laugh hysterically at my expression when I accused of being in love with Pippa…" she said, slowly.

Chris didn't laugh hysterically, but managed a smile through his tears.

"Five minutes Chris," the Angel of Destiny whispered, but the words sounded loud into the room anyway.

"Choose us," Piper said. "You can be our brother, Perry. The Halliwell boy. And in private, you'll be _my _boy. Please don't leave us. Please."

Desperate, Chris tore his gaze away from her. "I need time."

"You've got four minutes and change," Piper said, shaking her head, as Victor pulled her back slightly, his expression unsure.

"Hey, what's going on?"

They all turned to see Darryl Morris enter the room, a sheepish expression on his face, Sheryl behind him, with their two boys and a shy girl standing behind them.

"Bianca?" Chris said, almost stupidly, his mouth hanging open. "What-"

"We adopted her," Sheryl said with a smile. She looked around at all the teary and devastated expressions, and the smile faded. "What's happened?"

"Paul died, Wyatt's dead, and Chris has the decision of a lifetime," Phoebe explained, in a low voice.

"Huh?" Darryl said, blinking. "A guy sure misses a lot when he's away."

"Yeah, he does," Piper snapped, not looking at him, staring at Chris instead, crying.

Chris watched Bianca, six year old Bianca, as she shyly moved towards him, twisting a lock of hair in her right hand.

"You remembered me," she said to him.

Chris looked at Piper and Leo, hard. "Bianca. She deserves a proper life. And one thing I knew from the other Angel of Destiny I once saw… We were meant to fall in love…" His voice ghosted, soft.

"So you'll stay?" Piper said, hopefully.

"Really, what's going on?" Darryl said. "I came to apologise, but…"

Sheryl smacked him hard in the side. "And you will apologise."

"No," Chris said, his voice still vacillating, his face torn. "I won't stay." His face twisted, miserably. "I can't stay and watch… Watch something happen that I won't ever have. I know that makes me selfish, but I don't think I could take it. I'm sorry-"

Victor got up, and slowly walked over to him.

"This choice… It's about what you're willing to sacrifice," Victor said, taking Chris' hands in his own, locking gazes with him. "After Phoebe was born, I had to make the decision. Were my lovely girls worth the danger and the betrayal and the fact I lost my wife to her Whitelighter? I made the decision, and sacrificed my girls. I know the urge to run away and hide under a pillow, because I made that choice."

"It worked out for you," Chris said, his voice breaking.

"No," Victor said, his voice trembling, "no it didn't. My daughter died. And my other girls had to grow up without me. I have regretted it every day of my life. No matter the cost, they're worth it, Chris. You already made the decision once today. You could have let Wyatt die in the cage, even though it would have meant our deaths too. But you decided that Wyatt – evil and destructive Wyatt with the power to rule the universe – it was worth having him around just to keep your family alive. You already know your family is worth the monsters. A lie like that is destructive, I won't lie to you, it'll be hard. But I think it'll be worth it." His eyes were fierce. "I know it will."

Chris lowered his head. "And option two…"

"If that's what you decide, then I'm coming with you," Victor said, his voice firm.

Chris' head flew up. "What? But you said your girls-"

"Are worth it, are worth anything," Victor said, a grim smile on his face. "But ask any of us. You're worth more."

Chris hung his head, his eyes stinging, completely lost.

"One minute, Chris," the Angel of Destiny said softly.

"What's going on?" Bianca said, her young face twisted with worry. "Are you going away, Perry?"

"Perry's not his name, sweetie," Sheryl Morris said, her face dimpling as she smiled at the small girl. Bianca turned to Chris. "It's Christopher Halliwell."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Bianca said, frowning. "I guess I got it wrong. So your name's Christopher Halliwell?" She repeated it as if committing it to memory.

Chris looked at her, then at Piper, holding his younger self in one hand, and Leo in the other. He looked at Dan and Paige, fragilely touching like they might still break, and he looked at Phoebe and Cole, and baby Wyatt.

He didn't want to leave them.

He couldn't.

"No, Bianca," Chris said, kneeling on the ground, touching her chin with one finger as he smiled at her. "My name's not Christopher Halliwell," Chris said, as if it was the easiest thing he'd ever had to say.

He smiled at the sound of it, then smiled at his family, and then smiled at his future, stretching away into the distance, not guaranteed to be happy, but at least they had a chance. A good chance. The Angel of Destiny smiled and disappeared, acknowledging that his choice had been made.

Chris turned back to Bianca, and nodded.

"My name's not Christopher Halliwell," Chris repeated. "It's Perry." He paused, but not reluctantly. "Perry Halliwell."

* * *

**The End**

* * *

Coming soon…

The sequel to "_Neurotic_"…

Unwell

Christopher Halliwell is ignored.

Put into a metaphorical box.

Everyone thinks they know what he'll do, what he likes, what kind of trouble he's likely to get into, what he wants to do in the future. Which girl he likes.

And then there's Perry. Chris has been told all his life that Perry is his uncle, but he doesn't believe them. Perry's too much like him. He's convinced that Perry isn't his uncle, but his real father.

Perry eventually has to confess that he's not Chris' real father. Or his uncle. He's _him_. From an alternate future, where Wyatt was evil, his family dead, and Chris himself was institutionalised for insanity.

But when Chris finally learns this truth, how will he take it?

**Unwell.**

Coming soon.


End file.
